John Denver died tragically on October 12, 1997. Although John Denver is undoubtedly best known for his music and films, he was also one of the nation's most visible environmental activists. His concern for the environment inspired him to establish the Windstar Foundation, a non-profit environmental education and research center that works for a sustainable future for the world. John Denver was also a member of the Presidential Commission on World and Domestic Hunger and was awarded the Presidential World Without Hunger Award. He supported many environmental and welfare organizations such as National Wildlife Federation, Save the Children, the Cousteau Society and Friends of the Earth. In recognition of this commitment to the environment, John Denver was the first recipient of the World Ecology Medal awarded by the International Center for Tropical Ecology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The International Center for Tropical Ecology awards each year a research scholarship in memory of John Denver. Funds for this scholarship have come through a generous challenge grant from the Kroeger Family Charitable Foundation and from numerous friends of John Denver and the ICTE.
If we all could give a donation in John's name to help fulfill the scholarship, we all, in our own way, could help honor his memory and provide a fitting tribute because he cared so much about the environment. If you wish to donate to this endowed scholarship in memory of JOHN DENVER please send a check to :
The International Center for Tropical Ecology
Please make checks payable to The International Center for Tropical Ecology and under the memo portion of the check, please indicate that this money is to go to the John Denver Endowment Research Scholarship. Each donation is tax deductible and a receipt will be sent to you.
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Ivan Jiménez was awarded the first John Denver Memorial Scholarship in Tropical Ecology. This scholarship will support Ivan’s research on the ecology and conservation of currassows, large fruit-eating birds restricted to the New World tropics. A number of tropical organisms are key elements in the functioning of tropical forests because of the ecological services they render, or because of their disproportionate impact on the ecosystems in which they live. As the New World’s largest fruit-eating birds, currassows are a key link in the successful regeneration of tropical trees. Moreover, these birds are amongst the most vulnerable of rain forest creatures because of their sensitivity to deforestation and human hunting pressure. Ivan’s research is designed to understand how these large frugivores select foraging sites and balance nutritional needs with spatial availability of foods.
Ivan is nearing completion of his first year in the Ph.D. program in Tropical Ecology and Conservation at the University of Missouri-St. Louis under the direction of Dr. John G. Blake. During his first year, he was awarded a prestigious General Services Foundation Fellowship administered through the International Center for Tropical Ecology because of his interest and work in conservation biology. A Colombian national, Ivan completed his Bachelor of Science Degree at Colombia’s highest ranked academic institution, Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, in 1990. Following graduation, Ivan has pursued his interest in conservation by conducting research on Neotropical migrant birds, and becoming a participant in the highly competitive graduate course, "Tropical Biology and Conservation Biology" which is run by a Colombian NGO (FES) with funding from Wildlife Conservation Society at La Planada Nature Reserve, one of world’s key biological areas. Since 1994, he has been conducting research on currassows in the Colombian Amazon. Ivan and his colleagues have pioneered work on these vulnerable birds and are one of the first research teams in the world to study in detail their daily habits and their seasonal dependence on large patches of forest. While completing his doctoral dissertation at UM-St. Louis, Ivan will conduct an extended internship with a major international conservation organization (e.g., Conservation International or Wildlife Conservation Society). The internship will be goal-oriented and will be designed specifically to enhance Ivan’s graduate studies, promote conservation efforts of his host institution, and establish invaluable contacts for Ivan’s future career. After completing his Ph.D. dissertation, Ivan Jiménez intends to return to Colombia and work as a research professor at a major Colombian university. Such a position would allow him to not only continue his tropical conservation studies, but also to train the next set of environmental leaders in his native country.
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