Ricardo Rozzi - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ricardo Rozzi is a Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an ecologist

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

and philosopher

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

who teaches at the University of North Texas

University of North Texas

The University of North Texas is a public institution of higher education and research in Denton. Founded in 1890, UNT is part of the University of North Texas System. As of the fall of 2010, the University of North Texas, Denton campus, had a certified enrollment of 36,067...

(UNT) and the Universidad de Magallanes

Universidad de Magallanes

University of Magallanes is a university in the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas. It is part of the Chilean Traditional Universities. The University of Magallanes was established in 1981 during the neoliberal reforms of the Chile's military regime as the successor of Universidad Técnica del...

(UMAG). His research combines both disciplines through the study of the interrelations between the ways of knowing and inhabiting the natural world, proposing a dynamic continuous reciprocal feedback between both domains. His work at UNT forms a central part of the nation's best program in environmental philosophy (www.phil.unt.edu).
In addition to his theoretical work, Rozzi has collaborated with the Chilean Ministry of Education, the Latin American Ecology Schoolyard Program, and has participated in the creation of the "Senda Darwin" Biological Station (Chiloé Island

Chiloé Island

Chiloé Island , also known as Greater Island of Chiloé , is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean...

, Chile), the Latin American Network of Ethnobotanical Parks, the Omora Ethnobotanical Park

Omora Ethnobotanical Park

Omora Ethnobotanical Park is a protected area of Chile located west of Puerto Williams on Navarino Island in the extreme southern Magellan and Chilean Antarctica Region. The Omora Park is a research, education and conservation center for the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve...

(Puerto Williams

Puerto Williams

Puerto Williams is a Chilean port, located on Isla Navarino facing the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, one of four provinces located in the Magellan and Chilean Antartica Region...

, Chile), and the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve

The Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve is located in the extreme south of Chile and comprises marine areas, islands, fjords, channels, forests and moorland. It covers an area of approximately 49,000 km²...

at the southern end of the Americas, with the aim of incorporating environmental ethics in the practices of conservation and education in Latin America. Currently, he teaches at the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas

University of North Texas

, and is an associate researcher of the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity and the University of Magallanes, Chile. With these institutions, he is working in the consolidation of a biocultural conservation and "field environmental philosophy" program working in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Philosophy.
As the co-founder of the Omora Ethnobotanical Park

Omora Ethnobotanical Park

and the leader in the creation of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, his academic work has been strongly associated with application and includes a novel focus on biocultural conservation and the linking of human wellbeing with the environment. Within this same line of inquiry, Rozzi coined the term "field environmental ethics" to denote his emphasis on applying philosophy to real life situations using direct encounter experiences to enrich both academic formation as well as inform social processes, such as decision-making and ecotourism. For example, based on the discovery of the outstanding diversity of mosses, lichens and liverworts (5% of the world's total) in the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion, Dr. Ricardo Rozzi and his colleagues has coined the term Tourism with a Hand Lens

Tourism with a Hand Lens

"Tourism with a Hand Lens" is a term coined by Dr. Ricardo Rozzi and his colleagues to refer to a new speciality tourism being promoted in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve...

to refer to a new speciality tourism being promoted in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. Rozzi has called upon tourism operators to place this narrative into their offering for the region and take advantage of this biodiversity hotspot for non-vascular flora. In turn, Rozzi and the Omora Ethnobotanical Park have metaphorically called these small plant communities the "Miniature Forests of Cape Horn" to help the broader society understand the ecological role played by these tiny, but diverse, abundant and important organisms.
In a recent review of the impact of Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac , which has sold over two million copies...

's The Land Ethic, his son Carl Leopold termed Rozzi's work "ecological ethics", placing it on its own branch in the "tree-like" genealogy he conceived as the legacy of his father's seminal conservation and environmental philosophy work.

As a prolific writer, Rozzi's academic productivity includes dozens of articles, translations, chapters, and books on multiple topics that range from ornithology

Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...

to environmental education and philosophy to conservation. Perhaps his most important influential work is the only Latin American textbook on conservation biology called Fundamentos de Conservación Biológica: Perspectivas Latinoamericanas.
For his achievements in academia and his broader impact in society, Ricardo Rozzi has received numerous regional, national and international honors, including:

2008 "Premio Convivencia Sustentable (Sustainable Living Award)" given by the Fundación Casa de la Paz (Peace House Foundation)
2008 Science and Practice of Ecology and Society Award, given by the Foundation for Scientific Synthesis
2006 "Gold Medal" and Illustrious Citizen of the City of Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

, Italy
2004 BBVA Foundation Prize for Research in Conservation (in association with other scientists at the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity)
2004 Chilean National Award for Scientific Communication (CONICYT-Explora)
1996–1998 U.S. Fulbright Scholar
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...

In 2010, Rozzi's conservation work was also featured in a book by religion and nature scholar Bron Taylor

Bron Taylor

Bron Raymond Taylor is an American scholar and conservationist. He is Professor of Religion and Nature at the University of Florida and has also been an Affiliated Scholar with the Center for Environment and Development at the University of Oslo. Taylor works principally in the areas of religion...

exploring, among other things, the fusion of conservation science with nature spirituality.

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