Bonnie Burgess

Bonnie Burgess received her Master of Science in the Hopkins Environmental Sciences program, and was invited to return to the program to teach because of her educational work around endangered species. She serves as an interpreter with the National Zoo, considered one of the foremost conservational organizations in the U.S., and has recently published Fate of the Wild: The Endangered Species Act and the Future of Biodiversity, a research- and interview-intensive history and analysis of the complex issues surrounding the Endangered Species Act.

Her course, Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation, is guest lectured by scientists working for the Smithsonian or other conservation organizations; the U.S. Geological Survey, and Department of the Interior, all working in the field and specializing in biodiversity and wildlife conservation. These are the people leading the field research and making and upholding conservation policy in the face of continued extinction.

"It's about the species survival plan and what is happening to animals in the wild. One of our success stories is of the Golden Lion Tamerons. It's a wild little orange monkey native to Brazil. We've reeducating the people of the area to respect the animal; Brazil has made it its National Animal. In China.

"Conservation biology is probably the one comprehensive science that has a value system. In the course we have to cover everything from detailed small population biology, and chemical ecology, to broad-based topics like International projects, and the study of how to improve developmental projects so that they become sustainable. We use a lot of case studies." Burgess' book began to take form as her Master's thesis in the Environmental Sciences program. A synopsis can be viewed at www.uga.edu/ugapress/books/shelf/0820322962.html.

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