WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? TRAINING FUTURE CONSERVATION PALEOBIOLOGISTS TO TACKLE CONSERVATION CHALLENGES

Many of us who work in the area of conservation paleobiology (CPB) lack formal training in CPB, and most of us have no experience translating research results into management policy and practice. Yet application of geohistorical records to conserve, manage, and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services is a frequently acknowledged goal for this developing field. How do we move from training students in research skills, designed for academic careers, to preparing students for conservation science careers (in and beyond academia) that can further this goal?

A new Working Group (WG) supported by the NSF-funded Conservation Paleobiology Network (PIs Kelley and Dietl) convened remotely and in person during summer 2024 to address this challenge. Recognizing the importance of varied perspectives, we selected demographically diverse WG participants from a range of career stages, institution types, and disciplinary specialties. The primary goals of the WG are to determine core competencies that are essential in CPB training and the pedagogies most effective in fostering them. Initial steps included designing a survey to determine current pedagogical practices used by the CPB community in instruction and mentoring in CPB, and which competencies are currently being addressed. We previously suggested systems thinking, temporal thinking, normative thinking, strategic thinking, and interpersonal competence as core competencies for CPB, but these and other potential competencies (e.g., interdisciplinarity, transcultural understanding, participatory skills, and more) will be evaluated by the WG and recommendations made. This presentation will report on WG progress on competency identification and efforts to associate pedagogies with each competency. In addition to an open access peer-reviewed paper coauthored by WG members, we expect to produce a compilation of resources for CPB training, ranging from curricula and syllabi to exercises, case studies, and other pedagogical tools for use by the community.