Dallmeier, Francisco: 1953—: Biologist

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Francisco Dallmeier: 1953—: Biologist

Dr. Francisco Dallmeier is one of the world's leading wildlife biologists and an expert on biological diversity. Dallmeier has devoted himself to integrating studies of biodiversity among species and natural resources with conservation and management programs that promote sustainable development. As director of the Smithsonian Institution's Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program (SI/MAB), he has coordinated efforts to educate people around the world on issues of conservation and the preservation of threatened species, while formulating strategies for sustainable use of natural resources in developing countries. As co-designer and trainer for the Smithsonian Environmental Leadership Course, Dallmeier has taught leadership, communication, and negotiation skills that can be used to promote biodiversity conservation.

Trained in Wildlife Biology

Francisco Gómez-Dallmeier was born February 15, 1953, in Caracas, Venezuela. At the age of 18, while still a student, he became curator of mammals at the LaSalle Museum of Natural History in Caracas. Two years later, in 1973, Dallmeier became the museum's director, a post he held until 1977.

Dallmeier's lifelong interest in tropical birds flourished as he began studying the science of ecology and issues of biological diversity. While serving as museum director, Dallmeier also worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Tropical Zoology of the Central University of Venezuela. His fieldwork with the institute resulted in the banding of more than 3,000 birds. As a member of the ecology team, he studied the flora and fauna of southern Venezuela, collaborating with Polish scientists Kazimierz Dobrolowski and Jan Pinowski on a number of ecological projects.

In 1977 Dallmeier earned his licentiate in biology from the Central University and left his museum position. Over the next four years, he worked as a biologist and directed the ecology program at the Venezuelan environmental engineering company INELMECA. He also worked on Venezuela's first environmental impact statement, for the Morón Power Plant.

Moving to the United States in 1981 to further his studies, Dallmeier held a Fundacion Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho scholarship between 1981 and 1983 and an Organization of American States Scholarship between 1984 and 1986. Colorado State University in Fort Collins awarded him a master's degree in 1984 and a doctorate in 1986 in wildlife ecology. Dallmeier's Ph.D. research focused on the waterfowl of South America. On August 24, 1985, he married Nancy Joy Parton. The couple have two children, Alina Joy and Julian Dieter.

At a Glance . . .

Born Francisco Gómez-Dallmeier on February 15, 1953, in Caracas, Venezuela; married Nancy Joy Parton, 1985; children: Alina Joy, Julian Dieter. Education: Central University of Venezuela, licentiate, biology, 1977; Colorado State University, MS, wildlife ecology, PhD, 1986.

Career: LaSalle Museum of Natural History, Caracas, Venezuela, curator of mammals, 1971-73, director, 1973-77; Institute of Tropical Zoology of the Central University of Venezuela, research assistant, 1975-77; INELMECA, biologist/ecology department coordinator, 1977-81; Smithsonian Institution/Man and the Biosphere Biological Diversity Program (Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program), program manager/assistant director, 1986-88, acting director, 1988-89, director, 1989–.

Memberships: American Ornithologists' Union; Audubon Society of Venezuela; Cooper Ornithological Society; Latin American Association for Transactional Analysis; National Association of Neurolinguistic Programming; Sociedad Latinoamericana de Primatologia; Society of Conservation Biology; Venezuelan Association for the Advancement of Science; Venezuelan Association for the Study of Mammals; Venezeulan Science Graduate Association; Wildfowl Trust.

Awards: Fundacion Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Scholarship, 1981-83; Organization of American States Scholarship, 1984-86.

Address: Office— Smithsonian Institution MAB Program, Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Suite 3123, 1100 Jefferson Drive, SW, Washington, DC 20560-0705. E-mail: fdallmeier@si mab.si.edu.

Joined the Smithsonian Institution

After completing his degree, Dallmeier joined the staff of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., as program manager and assistant director of the newly-formed Man and the Biosphere Biological Diversity Program. He became acting director of the program in 1988 and permanent director in 1989. SI/MAB, which now stands for the Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program, began as a joint project between the Smithsonian and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). As part of the Smithsonian Conservation and Research Center of the National Zoological Park, its mission is the conservation of biodiversity throughout the temperate and tropical forests of the world.

By the late 1980s scientists were estimating that at the current rate of economic development, more than a million species of animals and plants would become extinct before the middle of the twenty-first century. Dallmeier initiated an intensive research and education program to train ecologists from developing countries to assess the biodiversity status of their countries' natural resources. By 1989 SI/MAB had undertaken field research and was conducting training workshops at four sites in the United States, as well as in China and nine Latin American countries.

Since that time, SI/MAB has established more than 300 research plots in 23 countries and has trained more than 400 scientists from more than 40 countries in the techniques of forest monitoring and assessment. SI/MAB works directly with local partners, including governments, non-governmental organizations, industry, academia, and local communities, to assess biodiversity in various regions and to establish ongoing biodiversity monitoring programs. Through its research and training courses held in various parts of the world, SI/MAB has disseminated standardized scientific protocols for assessing and monitoring biodiversity. SI/MAB also maintains its own research sites in various places including Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Canada, and China. Dallmeier has coordinated long-term field biodiversity research projects and training in more than ten countries, including Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Panama, as well as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.

Initiated New Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation

Dallmeier's scientific contributions have included the development of methods for using long-term research plots to study and monitor changes in the ecological balance of tropical forests. He established criteria for selecting these biodiversity plots: they must contain species that are native to the region and are representative of the region; they must include common and dominant species of the region; and the plot must be located within a single vegetation type. His research plot techniques have generated standardized information that allows detailed data from many different sites to be accurately compared. The forest plots are laid out in grids and the trees and other species are inventoried. Geological, topographical, and climatic factors, as well as past uses of the land, are determined. Once this baseline information has been collected, changes in the health and survival rates of various species can be measured over time. These methods, which rely on the use of computers in the field to record data, have led to a huge accumulation of data that is now widely available for the first time. Dallmeier and his colleagues have developed new techniques for analyzing these large databases.

But perhaps Dallmeier's most important contribution has been his new approach to biodiversity conservation, focusing on education and on promoting partnerships between conservation and development interests in order to encourage sustainable development. His approach is based on adaptive management techniques, a process by which managers can set goals, researchers can accumulate biodiversity data, and managers can reevaluate their goals in light of the new data.

Headed the Camisea Project

The Camisea Project has exemplified the type of collaboration initiated under Dallmeier's direction, between the Peruvian government and a division of Shell Corporation called Shell Prospecting and Development (SPDP). The team embarked on the development of a major gas project in the Lower Urubamba River Valley of the southeastern Amazon, near the Camisea River. The Camisea Project was initiated in order to bring a major new source of energy to Peru, and with it, new industry and economic development. However, the gas and condensate reservoirs were near Manu National Park and another bioreserve in the Amazonian lowlands, where much of Peru's biodiversity is localized. Between 1996 and 1999 Dallmeier's group collaborated with a team of more than 100 individuals, including native guides and Peruvian and international research scientists, to collect information at well sites and at selected points along both rivers and along the proposed pipeline routes. The research teams identified 152 species of plants, as well as 198 bird species, 118 species of fish, 86 types of reptiles, and more than 100 species of small mammals, including bats and rodents. The SI/MAB found the region "to be in nearly pristine condition," without evidence of human activity. These findings led SPDP to relocate its gas plant in another area that had been previously deforested for farming, rather than deforesting a new region. They planned to use helicopters for transporting workers, equipment, and supplies, instead of building new roads that would fragment wildlife habitat and encourage invasive species, poachers, and development. Long-term monitoring would be used to determine how the project was affecting natural systems, and additional monitoring sites would be established along the proposed pipeline route to Lima.

Although the SI/MAB Camisea Project has become a model for other such undertakings in developing countries, its ultimate fate is as yet undetermined. By mid-1998 Shell had dropped out of the project, due to cost overruns and the lack of a Peruvian gas market. The project was taken over by a consortium of companies that have since come under increasing criticism from environmental groups in the United States, Peru, and elsewhere around the world.

Dallmeier is the author or editor of more than 70 scientific publications. Over the course of his career, he has conducted fieldwork in the tropical forests of 23 different countries and coordinated more than 60 research and training programs in developing countries. His ongoing projects include assessment and monitoring in several countries, as well as the SI-CRC Conservation Training Program in Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring for Adaptive Management. In addition, Dallmeier has continued his work with the Smithsonian Environmental Leadership Course.

Promoted Latino Science

Dallmeier has been appointed as the acting director of the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives. The goal of this program is to advance knowledge and understanding of Latino contributions to the history, culture, and society of the United States. It has supported both educational and public programs, and works to integrate Latino participation and perspectives into various Smithsonian undertakings.

Dallmeier is an advisor to numerous national and international committees and organizations, and is coordinator for biodiversity of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO). He is a member of numerous ecological organizations, including the Society of Conservation Biology, the Wildfowl Trust, the Venezuelan Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Venezuelan Association for the Study of Mammals.

Dallmeier is a certified open water diver and a pilot. He is also trained in computer programming and database management. He has studied various systems of management communication and is a member of the National Association of Neurolinguistic Programming and the Latin American Association for Transactional Analysis.

The SI/MAB website quoted Dallmeier as saying that he hoped MAB could "create more partnerships with industry to be able to create a biodiversity conservation model that works in many different scenarios." He added that he hopes to expand MAB's education and training programs to produce "biodiversity physicians" who will practice biodiversity conservation around the world. He declared, "In this century we will make the final decisions about how this sixth species extinction currently in progress will end. We will be making the choice of protecting Earth's richness and diversity for future generations. It is a tremendous responsibility."

Selected writings

As author

Biology, Conservation and Management of Water-fowl in Venezuela, Editorial Ex Libris, 1990.

(With A. Alonso) Working for Biodiversity, Smithsonian Institution/ Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program, 2000.

(With A. Alonso, E. Granek, and P. Raven) Biodiversity: Connecting with the Tapestry of Life, Smithsonian Institution/Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program, 2001.

As editor

Long Term Monitoring of Biological Diversity in Tropical Forest Areas: Methods for Establishment and Inventory of Permanent Plots, UNESCO, 1992.

(With J. A. Comiskey) Forest Biodiversity in North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean: Research and Monitoring, Parthenon Publishing Group, 1998.

(With J. A. Comiskey) Forest Biodiversity Research, Monitoring and Modeling: Conceptual Background and Old World Case Studies, Parthenon Publishing Group, 1998.

(With A. Alonso) Biodiversity Assessment of the Lower Urubamba Region, Peru: Pagoreni Well Site, Assessment and Training, SI/MAB Series #3, Smithsonian Institution/Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program, 1999.

(With O. Herrera-MacBryde, B. MacBryde, J. A. Comiskey, and Carmen Miranda) Biodiversity Conservation and Management in the Region of the Beni Biological Station Biosphere Reserve, Bolivia, Smithsonian Institution/Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program, 2000.

(With D. C. Maciver) IPCC Workshop on Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change: Adaptive Management, Kluwer Academy Publisher, 2000.

(With Alfonso Alonso and Patrick Campbell) Urubamba: The Biodiversity of a Peruvian Rainforest, Smithsonian Institution, 2001.