Period : 2021-2024, 2025-2028
Introduction
The idea of a postgraduate degree in ethnobiology has always been cherished by Dr. Darrell Posey, an ethnobiologist who worked in the northern region of Brazil since the 1970s and died in 2002 - victim of a brain tumor -, who saw the need to train human resources capable of moving through the nature and society dichotomy, considering the peculiarities inherent to each one of these elements. But why associate Ethnobiology with Nature Conservation? Ethnobiology is a field that is increasingly expanding and prominence, especially in developing countries, given the great biological and cultural diversity that can be found in these regions. On the one hand, one cannot speak today of nature conservation without considering all the dimensions involved, whether scientific, political or ideological. On the other hand,
Therefore, we aim to create a program that meets this profile. Thus, the Biology Department of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), in cooperation with the State University of Paraíba-UEPB and the Regional University of Cariri-URCA, presented the proposal to open the Doctoral course in Association, Partial Association in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation in the year 2011. In 2020-2021, the University of Pernambuco and the Federal University of Pernambuco are part of the proposal. It was the first doctoral proposal aimed at training professionals in the nature/culture interface. Similar programs, to the best of our knowledge, are offered in Europe and the United States. The proposal, then, represented the first Doctorate with this profile in Latin America, whose demand for trained professionals is growing dramatically, especially with a view to dealing with complex and delicate issues involving society, nature and culture. Then, in 2012, the first postgraduate program in ethnobiology and nature conservation that included a Doctorate in Association program emerged. In its first evaluation, then triennial, the program rises to concept 5 by CAPES. The visibility of the program was such that, in 2016, the master's degree also appeared. then triennial, the program rises to concept 5 by CAPES. The visibility of the program was such that, in 2016, the master's degree also appeared. then triennial, the program rises to concept 5 by CAPES. The visibility of the program was such that, in 2016, the master's degree also appeared.
In 2021, PPGEtno has an updated teaching staff, with 22 teachers from the permanent core and 01 from the collaborating core. Aiming at strengthening the Program at its headquarters, namely UFRPE, we have the accreditation of three new highly qualified professors from the faculty. Also, the Program had the entry in 2021 of 23 doctoral students and 07 masters students. The citation of the works of PPGEtno professors in the works of other national and international researchers has been increasingly highlighted. Currently, PPGEtno has 100% of permanent professors with an H index ≥ 7 and 80% of permanent professors with an H index ≥10. In addition, the Program has 11 CNPq Research Productivity Scholars in its permanent faculty (48% level 1). Also, two professors from PPGEtno, namely Prof.
Since 2016, PPGEtno has trained 63 graduates (43 doctors and 20 masters). In the doctorate, over the current quadrennium (2017-2020), including the year 2016 (previous quadrennium), an impressive number of 40 students (95.45%) have employment or scholarship. More specifically, 41.9% of these graduates work as professors in public higher education, 18.6% in the private sector, environmental agency, NGO or consultancy, 14% are postdoctoral fellows (CAPES, CNPq, FACEPE), 11, 6% work in private or public secondary/primary teaching, 11.6% in private higher education, and 2.33% have no occupation. It is important to note that even with the drastic reduction in public competitions for professors in HEIs, almost half of the graduates between 2016 and 2020 managed to pass the competitions.Figure 1 . In the master's degree, 33.3% of the students are PhD scholarship holders, 23.8% are unemployed, 19% work in the private sector, environmental agency, NGO or consultancy, 4.76% work in public higher education and 4.76% teach classes in private teaching.
When it comes to the advances of the theses and dissertations of the program, they have been reflecting a constant growth, not only in the results in the form of publication, but also in their quality. All doctoral graduates published at least one scientific article. The percentage of graduates who have published at least one scientific article was 77.7%, of which only 15 master's students did not publish articles (although some had articles submitted). A result that reinforces the quality of dissertations and theses developed at PPGEtno is that 76.33% of the articles were published in journals with A4+ qualis. In the new quadrennium, we aim to further increase the number of publications resulting from dissertations and theses.
PPGEtno's Mission
To promote the formation of distinguished professionals who are capable of researching and teaching ecology and conservation through the union of nature, culture and society.
Our mission embodies our main differential, since since its creation the course was attentive to the increasing demand for approaches and professionals who are able to transit, or dialogue, in the contexts of interdisciplinarity in an increasingly multidiverse and pluriethnic society. When dealing with the challenges of conservation in tropical regions, the emergence of the interdisciplinary paradigm emerges as an alternative to the need for approaches focused on solving the socio-environmental problems of a socio-biodiverse country.
With its sociocultural component focused on the ethnobiological perspective, PPGEtno seeks to open a bridge of connection with the so-called "traditional knowledge" as a way of providing dialogue between the different social actors involved in modern socio-environmental challenges. In this way, we seek to collaborate so that more and more professionals, aware of the emerging challenges in socio-environmentally complex societies, are trained and active in different sectors of society, contributing, in turn, both to the construction of scientific knowledge and to socially fair public policies. and environmentally sustainable.
We exist, therefore, to actively collaborate in the transformation of reality, in an increasingly connected and globalized world, allowing a more comprehensive view of environmental problems to be addressed in all its complexity and dynamism. As many of our studies result in concrete actions aimed at the comprehensive society, sectored in the target audiences of each of the researches, we managed, in the essence of our work, to mediate relations with the non-academic sectors of society.
PPGEtno's Vision
Consolidate itself as a reference program for studies in biodiversity considering the relationship between people, cultures and society.
In its first triennial evaluation, PPGEtno established itself as a national reference program, but with the characteristics of an international reference program given its insertion, social return, quality and quantity of its scientific and cultural production. To the best of our knowledge, PPGEtno is today one of the only programs in the area of biodiversity, with an explicit concern with the dynamic relationships between the different components and sectors that constitute the core of environmental challenges. In addition to the concern, the program has been structuring itself didactically so as to allow this condition to reverberate in training, scientific production and the values that we return to society.
The realization of our ambition depends on not losing sight of this perspective, which is the basis for the creation of the course, but on achieving truly horizontal partnerships and exchange of experiences with researchers who work mainly - but not exclusively - in what has been call the Global South, which involves regions historically expropriated by the massive processes of an epistemological, cultural and environmental colonization that leads to the marginalization of locally produced knowledge. Therefore, we want to consolidate a relevant science with the potential to generate social impacts. This would, in turn, guarantee a closer relationship with actors not linked to the Academy.
Generated Values
Sustainability - production of scientific knowledge in line with the ethical commitment to preserve the environment, respecting human needs for access to biodiversity;
Valuing socio-biodiversity - understanding the complex dynamics that maintain, generate and perpetuate all forms of life on the planet, without forgetting the socio-diverse component that needs it and interacts with it;
Cooperation - understanding, in a complex world, that cooperation constitutes the basis for the production of increasingly positive human and professional relationships, and the production of increasingly complete and hybrid knowledge through different contributions;
Respect for non-academic knowledge - academic knowledge is one of the forms of knowledge produced by humanity's efforts to understand the world, but in a world of increasing challenges, on never-foreseen scales, the construction of hybrid knowledge constitutes a objective and necessary solution.
Strategic objectives
PPGEtno aims to train professionals capable of dealing with complex and delicate issues involving society, nature and culture. The program has generated national and international scientific production, in the form of articles published in high-impact journals, and books and chapters published by major international publishers such as Springer and Elsevier. The greater concentration of articles by professors and students of the program in the quadrennium in journals of Qualis A strata of CAPES evidences the excellence of the program's production.
The human resources trained in PPGEtno have worked in various sectors of society, such as educational institutions and environmental agencies, forming new centers of quality research and contribution to the search for solutions to problems involving the environment and its exploitation by humans, to the guidelines of the CAPES Biodiversity document, which emphasizes that “Brazil, as it holds the largest share of global biodiversity, and for having a broad and competitive system of science production and training of young people, has the obligation to lead the global effort to harmonize the use and conservation of natural resources with human well-being”.
For the next quadrennium, PPGEtno aims to achieve the highest evaluation concepts with CAPES and, for that, the following strategic objectives were outlined:
1. Strengthen and expand the infrastructure necessary for the development of research carried out at PPGEtno;
2. Promote greater integration between teachers and students from the different institutions that make up the PPGEtno;
3. Enhance the capacity to recruit and retain graduate students at national and international levels;
4. Promote periodic updating of disciplines and curricular structure, enabling better training of students in the development of research;
5. To guide the profile of the faculty with the interest of the PPGEtno and the CAPES evaluation guidelines, aiming to enhance the high-impact scientific production and the good formation of the students of the course;
6. Stimulate scientific production in partnership between students and professors;
7. Maintain and expand the qualified production of program publications;
8. Amplify social insertion actions associated with research developed in the program;
9. Intensify and consolidate PPGEtno's internationalization actions.
Action plans
What? Strengthen and expand the infrastructure necessary for the development of research carried out at PPGEtno;
When? 2021-2024, 2025-2028.
Who? Managers of HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
Why? Generate more comfort and functionality for research, teaching and extension activities.
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Allocating rooms and equipment.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? Promote greater integration between teachers and students of the different institutions that make up the PPGEtno;
When? 2021-2024, 2025-2028 at least once a year.
Who? General coordination and assistant coordinators of PPGEtno.
Why? Allow collaborative efforts to generate potential new partnerships between teachers and students. Integration and knowledge of the academic community on the actions developed in all sectors.
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Allocating rooms and equipment; organizing meetings with the entire PPGEtno community.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? Enhance the capacity to recruit and retain graduate students at national and international level;
When? 2021-2024, 2025-2028 at least once a year.
Who? General coordination and assistant coordinators of the PPGEtno, teachers and students.
Why? Expand the performance of the program nationally and internationally.
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Promoting the program through videos and digital promotional materials; disseminating the research developed in a portal for the scientific dissemination of the course; encouraging the participation of professors in public notices to support research projects to which students are linked.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? Promoting periodic updating of disciplines and curricular structure, enabling better training of students in the development of research;
When? 2021-2024, 2025-2028, at least once a year, in meetings of the entire PPGEtno community.
Who? General coordination and assistant coordinators of PPGEtno.
Why? Allow the program to always be ahead of cutting-edge knowledge and the needs of the wider society.
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Proposing new disciplines, eliminating others that are no longer relevant to modern scenarios.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? To guide the profile of the faculty with the interest of the PPGEtno and the CAPES evaluation guidelines, aiming to enhance the high-impact scientific production and the good training of the students of the course;
When? In the last year of each quadrennium.
Who? Program Didactic Coordination Collegiate.
Why? Allow the teaching staff to be always aligned with the profile of the program and the ever-increasing demands of current, relevant and significant scientific knowledge.
At where? General coordination of PPGEtno at UFRPE.
How? Recruiting new teachers through public notices specific to the demands that arise. Evaluating, with the professors, the need for renewal and restructuring of the staff, applying the current rules of accreditation and de-accreditation.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? Stimulate scientific production in partnership between students and professors;
When? I continue during the quadrennium.
Who? General coordination and assistant coordinators of PPGEtno.
Why? Allow the program to fulfill its function of training qualified professionals to work in the production of scientific knowledge.
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Periodically launching notices to support the translation, review and publication of articles. Annual offering of a specific discipline for the production of scientific texts based on data already collected by students/professors.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? Maintain and expand the qualified production of Program publications;
When? I continue during the quadrennium.
Who? General coordination and assistant coordinators of PPGEtno.
Why? Allow the program to fulfill its function of training qualified professionals to work in the production of scientific knowledge.
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Periodically launching notices to support the translation, review and publication of articles. Annual offering of a specific discipline for the production of scientific texts based on data already collected by students/professors.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? Amplify the social insertion actions associated with the research developed in the program;
When? I continue during the quadrennium.
Who? General coordination and assistant coordinators of PPGEtno, teachers and students.
Why? Allow the program to fulfill its social function of returning knowledge to different social actors, especially for use in public policies related to health and the environment.
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Annual offering of a specific discipline for the production of scientific dissemination texts and their publication on social networks and portals. Return activities to society, according to the specifics and needs of each dissertation/thesis developed in the Program. When relevant, encourage students to write "Policy Briefs'', based on their dissertation/thesis works, and their publication in the relevant channels.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
What? Intensify and consolidate PPGEtno's internationalization actions.
When? I continue during the quadrennium.
Who? General coordination, assistant coordinators of PPGEtno and teachers.
Why? Allow the program to expand its field of action and its technical-scientific enrichment through the horizontal exchange of experiences
At where? All HEIs associated with PPGEtno.
How? Annual offer of courses/events in English to allow students to have access to knowledge produced by foreign researchers. Offering courses in partnerships with foreign institutions.
How much? Own resources of each HEI, without additional costs.
Environment and risk analysis
Political Environment
- threats
- National political situation : In view of the constant cuts in aid and scholarships that the program has been suffering, we will probably have a drop in demand from students, as well as a change in the dynamics of the projects.
- Public policies for graduate studies : The constant devaluation of graduate courses can have an even more harmful effect on a PPG located in the Northeast and with Campus (eg, UPE) in the interior of Pernambuco
- CAPES and MEC actions : Constant collections and scholarship cuts will affect the demand by students, as well as assistance in research that requires a greater financial demand
- Opportunities
- Regional political situation : Although we are experiencing severe cuts in financial aid for research, FACEPE (Local Agency for Fostering Research) has sought to create public notices in a limited way helping the postgraduate program. In addition, FACEPE has an internalization policy, benefiting PPGEtno (in particular, UPE students and professors)
- Political situation at UFRPE : The coordination of PPGEtno has been involved in the University's policies associated with the pandemic (commissions) and internationalization (PRINT - institutional trip to Louisiana State University)
- Partnerships with external bodies : As the Program has an important cultural and social interface, companies and external bodies can represent a great opportunity for partnership and research promotion. For example, one of our faculty members was awarded the 2019 L'Oréal Women in Science International Award. As a result, the professor's research on human food received financial aid for the year 2020.
Economic and Social Environment
- threats
- National economic situation: The current economic situation of the country associated with the constant devaluation of research and graduate studies has had an even more harmful effect on a PPG located in the Northeast and with an institution (eg, UPE) in the interior of Pernambuco.
- Socioeconomic status of students : As it is located both in capitals and in cities in the interior of the Northeast, a large part of the student body is made up of people with lower socioeconomic status. As a result, the country's economic situation may have a greater impact on our PPG than on another in the same area.
- Offer of scholarships and grants (funding agencies) : As it is a relatively new Program, PPGEtno started in a period of disinvestment in Graduate Studies. As a result, we received a quota of 14 PhD scholarships and 3 Master's scholarships (including all active students) until 2020. Only in 2021 this quota was increased to 20 PhD scholarships and 5 Master's scholarships. However, a positive aspect for the PPGEtno is its associative characteristic, which allows it to internalize its activities (entering FACEPE's priorities) and even receive grants from other state bodies (Ceará and Paraíba)
- Opportunities
- Labor market for graduates: Because it is a program whose approach and lines of research are quite broad, the options for entering the job market are also expanded. In particular, as it is a postgraduate program that brings Ethnobiology as an axis that aligns different discourses, it already provides an innovative perspective on training. Even without intending to exclusively train ethnobiologists, the program allows professionals with an interest in ecology and conservation issues to be challenged to look at their issues from a different disciplinary lens. In addition, the program discusses the need to return the knowledge produced to society, as one of the challenges that Ethnobiology takes on in its practice. Such feedback provides professionals in training with the exercise of translating and returning their research findings to society. This last point allows this program to have an excellent contribution and social insertion.
- Pandemic context : PPGEtno's characteristic person-nature interface has become a great opportunity for us to collaborate with society. Among the documents and tools produced by PPGEtno, the following stand out: (1) Manual for dealing with fake news in times of covid-19 and (2) Map of risk perception and behavior about the new coronavirus.
- Appreciation of Federal Universities by society : The Ethnobiology project in our time (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviD7NprMbfQF9WfUUHDjiw) is a YouTube channel organized by PPGEtno professors. This channel provides debates between researchers and students (including PPGEtno) being broadcast on Youtube during 2020.
Technological Environment
- Opportunities
- Availability of new technologies : The development of projects that use traditional knowledge to understand the use of animal and plant species in traditional medicine can be an opportunity for PPGEtno in terms of patents in drug development.
- "Competition" with related PPGs: Two important characteristics of PPGEtno in relation to other programs: (1) associative format and capillarity in the northeast and interior of Pernambuco, (2) one of the few Biodiversity PPGs that deeply studies traditional knowledge to understand the use of biodiversity and, thus, has the capacity to provide technical and social tools.
- External demand for scientific products and services : The development of projects that involve local and often needy communities, brings with it the opportunity of its applicability through socio-environmental actions, for example. In addition, teachers, students and graduates of PPGEtno are often involved in environmental education activities, consulting, teacher training in the basic education network, and representation on CU management councils.
- Distance learning : The need for social distancing has generated the need for remote learning in all HEIs in the country. At PPGEtno, this difficulty turned into a great opportunity, mainly because it is a PPG with four associated universities. The students had the opportunity to take more courses and the laboratories the opportunity to interact with new research groups.