Presentation

The Postgraduate Program in Biodiversity and Use of Natural Resources aims to train high-level professionals to work in higher education teaching and scientific research in public institutions, private companies, and civil society organizations. The graduate of the program should be able to: I. Teach and conduct scientific studies on natural history and theoretical ecology, describing the components of biodiversity and studying the processes that organize this biodiversity; II. Teach and conduct studies on applied ecology, mainly related to biodiversity prospecting, aiming primarily at its sustainable use as an important element of regional development; III. Work in multidisciplinary teams of public and/or private environmental management, aiming to propose strategies for the management and sustainable use of natural resources based on knowledge generated from scientific studies.

The Graduate Program in Biodiversity and the Use of Natural Resources (BURN) at Unimontes was originally established as the Graduate Program in Biological Sciences (PPGCB) and was recommended by CAPES in July 2006, with the creation of the Master's course in Biological Sciences. Initially, the program was part of the former Biological Sciences I committee and aimed to train professionals in the area of biotechnology applied to nature conservation, with broad knowledge in biomolecular techniques related to the use and conservation of natural resources. Therefore, the program sought to integrate two areas of knowledge (Ecology and Molecular Biology), with a focus on sustainable development, especially in the semi-arid region of Minas Gerais.

In the first triennial evaluation, covering the period 2007–2009, CAPES recommended a change to the field of Ecology and Environment, which was later absorbed in 2011 by the field of Biodiversity. Following further recommendations from CAPES in the 2010–2012 evaluation, the program was reformulated, including changes in the faculty, curriculum structure, and program name, which was changed in 2016 to Biodiversity and the Use of Natural Resources (PPG-BURN). In the 2017–2020 quadrennial evaluation, published in September 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PPG-BURN received a score of 4, and in 2023, it submitted a proposal to open a doctoral program, which was recommended by CAPES. In 2024, the first doctoral cohort of PPG-BURN was launched.

Code: 32014015006P0

Name: Biodiversity and the Use of Natural Resources

Coordinator: Luiz Alberto Dolabela Falcão

Associate Coordinator: Mário Marcos do Espírito Santo

Basic Area: APPLIED ECOLOGY

Evaluation Area: BIODIVERSITY

Date of Recommendation: 07/12/2006

Modality: ACADEMIC