{"id":31284,"date":"2025-10-17T11:50:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=31284"},"modified":"2025-10-17T11:50:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:50:32","slug":"conservation-leader-from-brazil-shares-with-pvm-students-staff-and-faculty-insights-learned-from-protecting-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/conservation-leader-from-brazil-shares-with-pvm-students-staff-and-faculty-insights-learned-from-protecting-jaguars.php","title":{"rendered":"Conservation Leader from Brazil Shares with PVM Students, Staff and Faculty Insights Learned from Protecting Jaguars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even in the midst of Purdue University\u2019s Fall Break, Purdue students, staff and faculty turned-out to hear from an internationally recognized conservation leader who shared insights learned through her leading role in efforts to promote jaguar conservation in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.  Dr. Yara Barros, a biologist with a master\u2019s and PhD in Zoology from S\u00e3o Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil gave a special presentation at Lynn Hall hosted by the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine Tuesday, October 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Barros serves as the executive coordinator of the Jaguars of Igua\u00e7u Project, based at Igua\u00e7u National Park in Foz do Igua\u00e7u, Brazil.\u00a0\u00a0She also is the executive coordinator of Brazil\u2019s National Action Plan for the Conservation of Big Cats. Over the years, she has worked on projects to save some of Brazil\u2019s rarest birds, like the Spix\u2019s Macaw, and has led major conservation efforts in zoos, national parks, and government agencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Barros has been recognized worldwide with awards and honors, including this year\u2019s Whitley Award, which is the flagship prize of the Whitley Fund for Nature<\/a> (WFN) \u2013 a fundraising and grant-giving nature conservation charity. Additionally, just last week, Dr. Barros received a prestigious WINGS Women of Discovery Fellowship<\/a>, which recognizes extraordinary women making significant contributions to world knowledge and science through exploration. She was honored at the WINGS Women of Discovery Awards Gala on October 9 in New York City and, in conjunction with her travel plans, accepted the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s invitation to come to Purdue to speak at Lynn Hall while she was in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The honors Dr. Barros has received pay tribute to her exceptional contributions to biodiversity protection and conservation leadership. In addition, she is a prolific author of scientific articles, books, and public outreach works on animal behavior and conservation, always connecting science with public awareness and action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last four years, Dr. Barros has welcomed Purdue DVM students to Igua\u00e7u National Park, in partnership with a Study Abroad Program in Brazil led by Dr. Andrea Santos, PVM associate professor of veterinary clinical pathology in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology<\/a>. PVM Global Engagement<\/a> Director Addison Sheldon said the collaboration between Dr. Barros and Dr. Santos has provided students with invaluable opportunities to engage directly in conservation initiatives, linking classroom knowledge with real-world experience in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her talk, Dr. Barros described how the Jaguars of Igua\u00e7u Project has become a model for collaborative conservation, combining cutting-edge science, strong community engagement, and cross-border partnerships between Brazil and Argentina. As described in her WINGS Women of Discovery Fellowship<\/a> recognition, Dr. Barros regards jaguars as far more than a species\u2014they are a symbol of resilience and a compass guiding conservation, with a deep personal connection. Her work is driven by the belief that protecting jaguars means protecting entire ecosystems and the people within them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Yara Barros (third from right) with (left-right) Addison Sheldon, Dr. Andrea Santos, and veterinary students Laura Munoz, Azure Patterson, Joyce Jia and Tamea Smith, who all participated in the study abroad program at Igua\u00e7u National Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even in the midst of Purdue University\u2019s Fall Break, Purdue students, staff and faculty turned-out to hear from an internationally recognized conservation leader who shared insights learned through her leading role in efforts to promote jaguar conservation in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Yara Barros, a biologist with a master\u2019s and PhD in Zoology from S\u00e3o Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil gave a special presentation at Lynn Hall hosted by the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine Tuesday, October 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,499,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-global-engagement","category-our-impact"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31284"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31299,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31284\/revisions\/31299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}