A Visit from Professor Rodolfo Dirzo

Rodolfo Dirzo leading a discussion

Last week, Professor Rodolfo Dirzo (Stanford, UNAM) joined us in the village of Ixil, Yucatán, to talk about ecology and local biodiversity with a group of Proyecto Itzaes students and mentors from four of our villages. The following day, we explored ejido land surrounding Ixil, including the ruins of a small pyramid and participants learned methods for surveying the biodiversity of the vegetation. Plant specimens were gathered for each data point and scanned to add to the digital herbarium being created by Ixil students.

Don Ricardo Cutz provided Maya names and traditional uses for many of the plants we found in the field survey.

This two-day seminar was very much an exchange between Rodolfo, and local people (including elders) contributing traditional ecological knowledge, ecologists from Mérida as well as very young PI students.

Opportunities like this make a huge difference in the lives of PI students and their families and encourage teaching and learning across broad communities. Mil gracias to Rodolfo Dirzo for sharing with Proyecto Itzaes your knowledge, your time and your commitment to education!