The A. G. Leventis Foundation has committed to support 15 African Biodiversity Fellowships at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science, based in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford.
The fellowships, which will be hosted over three years, will enable conservationists from African countries to spend time working with the University’s extensive environmental research network in Oxford. Fellows will be able to draw on the University’s considerable research strengths and networks to build collaborations and develop new perspectives and skills that will benefit the work they are doing in their home countries.
Whilst at Oxford, A. G. Leventis African Biodiversity Fellows will be given time to realise the potential of their datasets, to design and test their conservation strategies, and to develop new ideas. This will benefit everyone: the practitioners themselves, their home institutions, and researchers, students and the wider Oxford community. Most importantly, it will enable more effective and sustainable biodiversity conservation into the long term, on the ground.
The funding from the A. G. Leventis Foundation will ensure the continuation of the successful Biodiversity Fellows Programme, which was established in 2015 by Professor E.J. Milner-Gulland, Tasso Leventis Chair of Biodiversity.
Professor Milner-Gulland said: ‘I am really excited that we will be able to welcome A. G. Leventis African Biodiversity Fellows to Oxford, thanks to this generous support from The A. G. Leventis Foundation. These fellowships benefit everyone involved, and will be the start of ongoing collaborative relationships between Oxford and the fellows. If our previous schemes are anything to go by, there will be many applicants with inspiring novel ideas for how to spend their time in Oxford, and it will be a privilege to work with the fellows to bring them to fruition.’
The A. G. Leventis Foundation added: ‘The A. G. Leventis Foundation is delighted to extend its support to the University of Oxford by offering 15 African Biodiversity Fellowships. The foundation’s trustees are confident that the opportunity to visit and spend time at the University will benefit the participant conservationists and their institutions.’
Since its inception, the aim of the A. G. Leventis Foundation has been to support educational, cultural, artistic and philanthropic causes in Cyprus, Greece and elsewhere. The foundation has contributed to the establishment of posts in Greek studies as well as environmental science at prominent universities and academic institutions. Furthermore, through collaborations with academic institutions, it supports scholarships, bursaries and research grants to outstanding students and academics. In the past two decades the foundation has expanded its environmental mission to promote and support international programmes on environmental conservation and sustainable agriculture, with emphasis on developing countries.