Consortium Goals and Partnerships
The goal of this project is to strengthen community capacity in seven conservation units in Guatemala and Belize for biological monitoring and biodiversity data management via community science engagement all contributing to conservation of the central-eastern Mayan Rainforest.
Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society (T.R.E.E.S), a not-for-profit Belizean organization operates a research and education center in the Maya Mountains of Belize. The T.R.E.E.S Research Center offers fully featured facilities for students and professors on faculty-led field courses, graduate students and researchers, and eco-travelers who support environmental and cultural conservation in Belize. T.R.E.E.S is dedicated to conserving the natural and cultural heritage of Belize through education, income-generating conservation-based community projects, capacity building, and local and international networking.
Foundation for Latin American and Anthropological Research (FLAAR) is a non-profit organization based in Guatemala involved in developing projects that promote conservation of the environment and the cultural heritage of the Mesoamerica region.
FLAAR is directed by archaeologist and photographer Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth who works as a consultant in traditional and digital photography. The team consists of graphic designers, illustrators, engineers, biologists, photographers, and explorers who contribute to educational books, film, and animation that are shared through FLAAR websites and social media.
The Earth Teach Alliance (ETA) will explore how community-based science might serve as contributors of new knowledge from which new stories might emerge as it relates to Neotropical biodiversity data in Mesoamerica. How and who gets to contribute to science and what data counts and what does not? How does data inform what and how we teach and what resources are developed for the community and our classrooms?
It is understood that regions with higher records of biodiversity will find it easier to justify and access finance for environmental protection. In looking at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) the disparities become even clearer when we see 79% of their repository containing billions of species comes from just ten countries with 37% of those from the U.S. Since the 19th century wealthier countries dominated knowledge production and influenced how biodiversity data was collected, shared, and owned. Colonial legacies have shaped much of Neotropical research in Mesoamerican countries where we find some of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Those who dominate knowledge can influence how we view and understand the natural world. This unfortunately can result in misplaced funding and can lead to the funding of biased data. Conservation funding based on biased data can direct resources away from areas of greater need in a community. The process of extracting specimens from their environments and habitats often result in the loss of their ecological and cultural context. Recognizing these disparities challenges us to ask some important questions about who determines what data should be included and what is excluded.
Digital platforms can shape who tells the story of climate change. Without equitable access, marginalized voices—especially youth, Indigenous leaders, and local communities are excluded from the public dialogue. Climate models and AI-driven environmental monitoring depend on data but if rural, low-income, or Indigenous areas are digitally excluded, their environmental realities remain invisible in datasets. This invisibility reproduces environmental injustice—because what isn’t measured or mapped isn’t prioritized in policy. Digital equity thus supports climate justice storytelling, advocacy, and democratic participation.
This project will take place in the central-eastern region of the Maya Rainforest, within a 65-km perimeter east and west of the Guatemala-Belize border. Specifically, it will focus on four management units (Yaloch, La Unión, Chosquitán, and Río Chanchich) located in the multiple-use zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR), Petén, Guatemala. It will also focus on three biological stations located in the districts of Stann Creek, Cayo, and Toledo, Belize, respectively.
Key objectives of the project:
1) To assess the needs for a Neotropical portal and accessible learning platform that will implement ecological training modules, TEK, and citizen science data in partnership with field stations and local communities.
2) To promote digital equity and literacy. Communities contribute to the development and use of an AI app that will represent culturally relevant ethnobiology data and integrated with larger existing biodiversity databases.
3) To promote capacity building through training modules and resources for out of school youth and women in STEM literacy, data collection methods, and wildlife monitoring and conservation skills.