Global Biodiversity Center
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the variation of all life on earth, from genes and species to communities and ecosystems. Biodiversity can be studied from the local to global scale and across the many levels of organization (genes to ecosystems).
Why is biodiversity important?
In all systems, aquatic to terrestrial and managed to natural, biodiversity maintains life on our planet and underpins the ecosystem services vital to human well-being, including food, carbon storage, climate regulation, aesthetics, and cultural support. However human activities threaten this biodiversity as species extinction continues to increase.
The Global Biodiversity Center at Colorado State University
The goal of the Global Biodiversity Center is to: (1) link these researchers across campus; (2) provide expertise in biodiversity research to other scientists, policy makers, natural resource managers, and conservation practitioners at the state, national, and international levels; and (3) work towards the enhancement of biodiversity through research, policy advancement, and outreach.
GBC Staff
Ed Gallo-Cajiao, Ph.D., Director
Ed is an assistant professor of environmental governance at the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources. He comes to the Global Biodiversity Center with organizational experience after a career in the non-government sector prior to joining CSU in early 2024. He served on the Society for Conservation Biology’s global board of governors from 2018 to 2023. Ed’s main expertise is in global environmental governance, with a special focus on migratory species. He leads the Biodiversity Governance Lab, where he advises students in conservation-focused projects, such as media communications of wolf reintroduction and the politics of wildlife crossing implementation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia), a master’s degree in environmental science from Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia), and a PhD in environmental governance and conservation science from the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia).