INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS
This course is designed and implemented by Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF), in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. CSF uses economics and strategic analysis to help conserve natural ecosystems around the world. We train environmental professionals in a focused package of practical economic skills, and also work with groups directly in the field. CSF concentrates on forests and rivers in the tropics where extraordinarily high levels of biological diversity are found. Since its creation in 1998, CSF has trained over 600 professionals from 40 different countries, and conducted over 30 analysis projects in the field.
What you will learn
Our goal in this course is to give you some very practical tools that can help you design more effective conservation programs, and confront badly planned, unsustainable development projects. You are all highly trained, experienced professionals, so we are merely hoping to add to your toolboxes a package of knowledge and skills that will help you do a better job.
At the core of this course is economics. We do not regard economics as a philosophy that tells us the way things should be. Economics is one way of explaining and predicting phenomena in the world and offers useful insights about the way people use land, water, forests and wildlife. You will learn the methods experts use to place a monetary value on nature and how these methods are applied to tropical forests and reefs. You will do the sort of quantitative analysis experts at the World Bank and private companies use to justify development investments. You will gain a clearer understanding of the economic decisions private companies make in exploiting forests and other natural resources. Further, you will practice negotiating conservation policies with different stakeholders.
The course schedule will also help clarify what the course does and does not cover. While the course will give you tools to evaluate the viability of conservation investments, it is not a course in business administration, and will not teach you to run a successful business. Similarly, we will not cover internal financial management and budgeting for non-profit organizations. We also will not be focusing on macroeconomics, which deals with the functioning of entire national economies. Rather, our focus is on microeconomics, which allows us to understand how individuals, families and companies interact and make up markets for particular goods (timber, fish, oil, land, tourism, etc.). It is microeconomics that provides the basis for all environmental and natural resource economics.
Preparing for the course
Before the course begins, we will make several of the readings accessible from our website. In particular, the Introductory chapter of Environmental Economics, by Turner, Pearce and Bateman gives a good overview of environmental economics. We will also post some readings from a basic microeconomics text that will be helpful to review before the course, especially if your native language is not English.
After the course, CSF hopes to help some of you apply your new skills in your home countries, so please begin to think now about projects or policies you may want to analyze upon your return.
natural resource economics.
CSF Contact Information
Will Broset
Course Coordinator
Mobile Phone: 650-269-8226
Email: boldresults@gmail.com
Kim Bonine
Program Director
Office Phone: 707-822-5505
Mobile Phone: 831-247-4182
Email: training@conservation-strategy.org or kim@conservation-strategy.org
Travel to California
An orientation will be held on Sunday evening, August 10. All participants should plan to arrive at Stanford University by 5pm on Sunday, August 10. If you will not be able to arrive by this time, let us know and we can help you make plans to arrive on Saturday, August 9 instead.
The course will begin on the morning of Monday, August 11. The course will end the evening of Friday, August 22. Everyone will be departing from Stanford University on Saturday morning, August 23.
When you make your travel arrangements, it will be easiest to fly into the San Francisco Airport (SFO) or the San Jose Airport (SJC), because they are closest to Stanford University (about 30 minutes).
If you would like to arrive in the San Francisco area earlier than August 9, or leave later than August 23, you will need to arrange for your own lodging.
Airport Transfers
Participants must secure their own transportation between the airport and Stanford University. Transportation from SFO/SJC to Stanford University is easy to arrange via a Door-to-Door airport shuttle van.
Shuttles cost $25-$30 USD from either airport.
Ground Transportation from SFO:
Door-to-Door shuttles are available as well as scheduled buses and public transportation.
At the San Francisco Airport, shuttles pick up on the Departures/Ticketing Level from the roadway Center Island at all terminals.
http://www.flysfo.com/transport/services/gt_tsv_search.asp
For help getting from SFO, dial 511 from within the San Francisco Bay Area or (510) 817-1717 from outside the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ground Transportation from SJC:
Door-to-Door shuttles are available as well as scheduled buses and public transportation.
At the San Jose Airport, shuttles can either be arranged in the airport or can be found waiting in one of two areas: Terminal A - In the Ground Transportation Center located south of the Terminal Garage.
Terminal C – Outside on the same side of street, just south of baggage claim.
http://www.sjc.org/travelers/ground_trans.html
Stanford University Check In
Ask your shuttle driver to take you to Stanford University, and have your driver drop you off at the Florence Moore Service Center at 436 Mayfield Ave (a short distance from our residence). You will be greeted by a CSF team member who will help you check in and escort you to our residence at Sigma Nu House at 557 Mayfield Ave.
If you will be checking in before 8:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m., you will need to call 736-9988 (or 6-9988 from an on-campus phone) for an on-call Service Center staff member to assist you in checking in and getting your key. (There will be a phone on the wall near the Service Center.) You will then go to Sigma Nu House and use your key to enter the building and your room.
Stanford University Contact Information
Our Stanford Service Center is where you will check in upon arrival and get your room key:
Florence Moore Service Center
c/o CSF Economics
436 Mayfield Ave.
Stanford, CA 94305
USA
Tel: (650) 736-9988
Fax: (650) 736-8253
www.flomoconferences@stanford.edu
Note: You can receive mail at the Service Center address. Make sure that your name and CSF Economics is clearly included in the address.
Our Course House is where we will be staying during the course:
Sigma Nu House
557 Mayfield Ave.
Stanford, CA 94305
USA
Phone numbers will be provided closer to start of the course.
Map of Stanford University
You may wish to view a map of Stanford to familiarize yourself with the University
http://www.stanford.edu/hpcgi/map/index.pl
For more information on the campus and surrounding areas, consult Stanford University’s website at http://www.stanford.edu.
Housing Facilities and Grounds
The course will be held on the Stanford University campus in Stanford, California. The 8,000-acre campus is 45 minutes south of San Francisco and surrounded by foothills and rolling Oak woodlands.
Our group will be staying in a large dormitory-style house on campus. We will have sole use of the house, including the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, computer room and common areas, which will enable participants, staff and instructors to interact both during and outside of class. However, as with almost all accommodations on the Stanford campus, these are shared accommodations. Your room will most likely sleep two people (of the same gender) and share a common bathroom on each floor. With this in mind, you may wish to pack a bathrobe and slippers for yourself. You will be provided two towels per week. Any available single rooms in our residence will be offered to participants on a lottery basis for an additional fee.
Course lectures will be given in a nearby classroom and in the common space of the house. We will be walking the short distance (10-15 minutes) to and from our residence to the classroom and dining facility each day. Let us know if this presents any difficulty and we will make appropriate arrangements for you.
Dining
We will eat breakfast and lunch in a dining facility on campus, and we will eat dinners at our residence. There will be a variety of choices at every meal, including a vegetarian/vegan option. Please indicate any special dietary requests on your medical questionnaire form (e.g. food allergies, vegetarian meal preference, etc.).
The first meal of the course is dinner on the evening of Sunday, August 10th. The last meal of the course is breakfast on Saturday, August 23rd. Listed below are several locations that serve food and drinks on the Stanford Campus on weekends:
Tresidder Express
Tresidder Memorial Union
459 Lagunita Drive
Tel: (650) 723-9224
Weekend Hrs: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Convenience store that offers a variety of food, drinks, school supplies, magazines, and over-the-counter medications.
Subway
Tresidder Memorial Union
459 Lagunita Drive
Tel: (650) 723-3963
Weekend Hrs: 12:00pm - 6:00 pm
Offers sandwiches, wraps, salads and soups.
Cool Café
Rodin Sculpture Garden
Cantor Arts Center
Tel: (650) 725-4758
Weekend Hrs 11:00am – 5:00pm
http://museum.stanford.edu/visit/cafe.html
Offers a menu of gourmet sandwiches, soups, and salads.
Numerous restaurants and food options can be found in the neighboring town of Palo Alto, about a 30-minute walk from our residence.
Laptop Computers
Bring a laptop computer if you have one. If you are not able to bring a laptop, please let us know and we will do our best to provide enough laptops for the coursework.
Internet
We will have one or two computers available in the residence for Internet access during evenings and breaks, and Stanford also has Internet access at various libraries around campus. If necessary, the staff can send and receive important messages for you (messages can be sent to training@conservation-strategy.org).
Those interested in wireless access for their laptop will need to set it up individually through Stanford University. The cost is $30 per week. If you are interested, visit http://rescomp.stanford.edu/conferences/connections.html for more information and to register before coming to the course. If you have questions, you can email conferences@rescomp.stanford.edu.
Telephone
You will have use of a shared telephone at our residence that can be used to make and receive phone calls during breaks. The telephone number at our residence where you can receive calls will be provided closer to the start of the course.
Long distance calling cards can be purchased through the Internet from various vendors (try www.consumer.att.com/prepaidcard/ or www.callingcards.com/) or on the Stanford Campus at the Tresidder Express convenience store at the Tresidder Student Union. If you plan to make international phone calls, it is probably most cost-effective to buy a calling card online. If you bring a mobile telephone, it must be turned off during class hours.
Health Insurance
You will need to be covered by health insurance during the course. If you do not already have a policy that will cover you while you are at Stanford, you can obtain a short-term insurance policy online from various vendors. Policies usually cost between $35-$45 dollars depending on age and amount of coverage chosen. Let us know if you need assistance with obtaining health insurance.
Two companies offering short-term policies for international visitors:
International Medical Group
http://www.imglobal.com/coverage/patriot/
International Health Insurance
www.HealthInsurance.com
Personal Expenses
You are responsible for all your personal expenses, such as personal telephone calls, mail, photocopies of personal materials, and food items outside the regular meals provided by the course. During the day off and optional trip to San Francisco, participants will be responsible for their own travel and dinner costs. Travelers’ checks, Visa and MasterCard are accepted at most locations.
Recreational Facilities
Recreational and athletic facilities (pool, gym, etc.) are available on the Stanford Campus, although hours of operation often conflict with our classes. The Stanford Quick Start Summer Guide includes information about facilities, hours, access passes and short-term membership fees. Any fees associated with recreational or athletic facility usage will be the responsibility of the participant and will need to be paid directly to Stanford University.
What to bring
The weather is variable during all seasons, so bring clothing for both warm and cool weather. Stanford can be very warm, but visits to the coast and to San Francisco can be cold and foggy. In August, expect minimum temperatures of around 10°-13° C in the evening and maximum temperatures of 25°-35° C. Bring comfortable, casual clothes – at least enough to last 7 days without doing laundry. Bring long pants and shorts or skirts, and both long- and short-sleeved shirts. You will have access to laundry machines in the residence during the course (about $5 USD for washing and drying).
Among other items, we recommend you bring:
Clothes:
sturdy shoes for walking to and from the classroom, and for hiking or playing volleyball, soccer or other recreational activities during free time
a windbreaker or rain jacket (visits to the coast can be cold, wet, foggy and windy)
sweaters (nights can be cold)
a warm hat
a sun hat
Equipment and other items:
a flashlight
sunscreen
sunglasses
a water bottle
a calculator
pens and pencils
a camera (optional)
binoculars (optional)
Sightseeing
Stanford University is located close to downtown Palo Alto and we will schedule a couple of evening trips for walking around, shopping and free time. Overall, please plan on having limited access to shops and stores. During the course, we will visit a nature preserve near Stanford and take a day trip to San Francisco or Monterey Bay. Northern California has a great deal to offer, and within an hour of Stanford are cities such as San Francisco and Berkeley, the popular beach and surfing town of Santa Cruz, and ample opportunities for hiking, camping and biking through woodlands and redwood forests. Many of the most well-known California wineries are located about two hours away in Napa and Sonoma counties. We will be glad to direct you to information on tourist attractions, but please plan to do your shopping and sightseeing before or after the course. You will be very busy during the course, so there will not be time for such visits outside of planned excursions.
Stanford’s free Marguerite Shuttle (http://transportation.stanford.edu/marguerite/MargueriteShuttle.shtml) provides service around campus and into downtown Palo Alto. A map and schedule can be found at http://transportation.stanford.edu/images/marguerite-map_5-28-2007.pdf.
