SUNY ESF
Ph.D. Student Finds Community, Financial Support at ESF

For André Mauricio Urcuqui-Bustamante '21, a combination of financial aid and a supportive community were among the standout features of his four years at ESF.

Urcuqui-Bustamante came to ESF after earning his bachelor's degree in his native Colombia and two master's degrees, one in Colombia and one in pain; all three degrees were focused on the environment. Then he decided to expand his learning with a focus on another element of the environment: humans.

"As a scholar, I started working on biological studies and environmental management initiatives in several places in Colombia, and then I realized that I needed to include people and their perspectives and ideas about the environment," he said. "I had always wanted to study in a graduate program in the United States. I grew up with this idea that the United States had really good programs, good universities. Also, I had an interest in the environment so I wanted to study something related to environmental management, and I started looking for programs."

By the time he arrived at ESF in 2017, Urcuqui-Bustamante was six years into his professional life, serving as a university professor and working with environmental NGOs and authorities in Colombia. It was challenging to resume life as a student while also adapting to a new culture and the need to read, write and speak in English all the time instead of using his native Spanish.

After the adjustments during those early months, he began to enjoy the experience. "I have met many really good people here - professors and staff and classmates. I felt it was a cohesive community, not only at ESF but in the Syracuse area," he said. "Some of my friends are from Latin America, Asia and Europe but also from the states and the Syracuse area as well."

Urcuqui-Bustamante's doctoral studies were supported by travel grants and a fellowship from ESF's Randolph G. Pack Environmental Institute and a graduate assistantship. He also received a mini-grant from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs through the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration. Along the way, he was honored as the 2020 Outstanding Ph.D. Scholar in the ESF Graduate Program in Environmental Science.

"That really made a difference for me," he said of the financial support. "Coming from a South American country to study in the states can be really expensive for us."

His dissertation focused on analyzing stakeholder participation in environmental decision-making. The research involved trips to collect data in Colombia and Mexico; the travel was supported in part by the Pack Institute grants.

Urcuqui-Bustamante's next step is the University of Maine, where he will serve as a post-doctoral associate and research the interactions between ticks, tick-borne disease, forest management and human behavior. It fits neatly with his interest in combining biophysical studies with social science. Eventually, he would like to return to Colombia for a career combining teaching and research in the human dimensions of the environment.

"What I want to do right now is improve my research skills and my knowledge, and then give it back to students," he said.