Chapter 31: Uw-Madison And The University Of Guadalajara: A Half Century of Collaboration in Socioenvironmental Sciences

Collaboration between UW–Madison and the University of Guadalajara(UDG) began in the mid-1970s between botanists Hugh H. Iltis and Luz María Villarreal de Puga. In 1979, Iltis, with one of Villareal de Puga’s students, described in Science a new species of wild corn, Zea diploperennis, that was discovered in the Sierra de Manantán. Its benefits to agriculture were discussed in the front pages of The New York Times and it became a symbol of the need to conserve genetic diversity in natural areas and the need to support traditional indigenous agricultural practices. The first 20 years of joint collaboration between UW and UDG led to the establishment of various biological research stations, a federal biosphere reserve, and three university undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Subsequent interdisciplinary grant funding supported the formation of novel inter-municipal watershed and waste management governance agencies. Eventually, the partnership expanded to include 11 additional universities and nongovernmental organizations in the United States, México, Canada, Bolivia, and Ecuador, as well as community-based initiatives in all five countries. Against the backdrop of the Wisconsin Idea, this chapter explores the extensive and expansive engagements between UW and UDG since the 1970s until the present.