While there are still a few assignments pending, Tuesday was the last full day of the 4 week long intensive road ecology course together as a group. It has been a true pleasure teaching the course and getting to know the individual students. I would like to thank them for their interest and enthusiasm for road ecology, wish them all the best with their studies and further career, and I hope we will meet again sometime in the future. I miss them already! :)

Note: this road ecology course was made possible through a grant from CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), the Department of Forest Sciences (Departamento de Ciências Florestais) at the Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" (ESALQ), Piracicaba campus of the University of São Paulo, the Graduate Program Committee (Programa de Pós-Graduação Interunidades em Ecologia Aplicada - PPGI-EA) and Maria Victoria Ramos Ballester (the Coordinator of PPGI-EA), Mara Casarin (the secretary of the PPGI-EA), Celine Coppê de Sousa , the Graduate Program Service at ESALQ, Milena Arthur and her colleagues at Centrovias, Paulo Ruffino and his colleagues from the Itirapina Ecological Research Station (Estação Ecológica de Itirapina), the guest speakers Fernanda Abra, Simone Freitas, Ronaldo Morato, José Luis Ridente, Marcelo Ruil, Marco Antonio Marques de Sousa and Bethanie Walder, and last but not least Dr. Katia Ferraz. Many thanks to everyone who made this possible!

Picture below taken by Lilian Bonjorne de Almeida.

Front row from left to right:  Lilian Bonjorne de Almeida, Fernanda Delborgo Abra, Ricardo Reale.

Middle row from left to right: Maisa Ziviani Alves, Larissa Oliveira Gonçalves, Bruna Oliveira, Julia Camara de Assis, Miriam Lucia Lages Perilli.

Back row from left to right: Thaís Rovere Diniz Reis, Marcel Huijser, Katia Ferraz, Alan Eduardo de Barros and Renata Bergamo Caramez.

The following people also took part in the road ecology course, but are not in the picture: Alex Augusto de Abreu Bovo, Marcelo Magioli, and Renata Miotto.

Image below: Marcel Huijser and road ecology students from ESALQ braving the heat, at bridge across the Rio Jacaré-Pepira, near Brotas, São Paulo, Brazil. From left to right: Marcel Huijser, Ricardo Reale, Thaís Rovere Diniz Reis, Bruna Oliveira, Alan Eduardo de Barros, Renata Bergamo Caramez, Alex Augusto de Abreu Bovo and Marcelo Magioli.

Marcel Huijser and road ecology students from ESALQ, at bridge across the Rio Jacaré-Pepira, near Brotas, São Paulo, BrazilMarcel Huijser and road ecology students from ESALQ, at bridge across the Rio Jacaré-Pepira, near Brotas, São Paulo, Brazil

Image below: Milena Arthur and colleagues from Centrovias intruduce the students to the SP-225 and its wildlife mitigation measures, near Brotas, Brazil.

Milena Arthur and colleagues from Centrovias intruduce the students to the SP 225 and its wildlife mitigation measures, near Brotas, BrazilMilena Arthur and colleagues from Centrovias intruduce the students to the SP 225 and its wildlife mitigation measures, near Brotas, Brazil

Image below: Paulo Ruffino from the Itirapina Ecological Research Station (Estação Ecológica de Itirapina) discusses human safety and wildlife concerns along the two lane road (Rod. Mun. Ayrton Senna) that bisects the Itirapina reserve. From left to right: Miriam Lucia Lages Perilli, Lilian Bonjorne de Almeida, Marcelo Magioli, Alex Augusto de Abreu Bovo, Paulo Ruffino and Fernanda Delborgo Abra.

Paulo Ruffino from the Itirapina Ecological Research Station (Estação Ecológica de Itirapina) discusses human safety and wildlife concerns along the two lane road (Rod. Mun. Ayrton Senna) that bisectsPaulo Ruffino from the Itirapina Ecological Research Station (Estação Ecológica de Itirapina) discusses human safety and wildlife concerns along the two lane road (Rod. Mun. Ayrton Senna) that bisects the Itirapina reserve

Image below: Bruna Oliveira, Maisa Ziviani Alves, Larissa Oliveira Gonçalves and Bethanie Walder look for tracks of maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) along a dirt road, Estação Experimental e a Estação Ecológica Itirapina.

Bruna Oliveira, Maisa Ziviani Alves, Larissa Oliveira Gonçalves and Bethanie Walder look for tracks of maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) along a dirt road, Estação Experimental e a Estação EcológicaBruna Oliveira, Maisa Ziviani Alves, Larissa Oliveira Gonçalves and Bethanie Walder look for tracks of maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) along a dirt road, Estação Experimental e a Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, São Paulo, Brazil. Note the "perneiras" (snake bite leggings) that help reduce the probability of getting bitten by cascavel (Crotalus durissus; South American rattlesnake) or jararace (Bothrops jararaca).