Interview with Karla Lara: El Salvador native studying biology and working in San Salvador

She also works for SalvaNATURA as the assistant coordinator of the 12th congress of the MesoAmerican Society of Biology and Conservation(SMBC).  I had the pleasure of having her as an officemate and good friend during my stay in San Salvador, and she continues to be an inspiration with her incredible enthusiasm and passion for her work.

Q:  How long have you been working with SalvaNATURA, and how did you make your contacts here?

Karla: I started working 2 years ago, but first I worked as a field volunteer, and then the science program hired me as an assistant in a herp inventory of the amphibian and reptiles in the eastern zone of the country.
I was able to work with them through the biologist in charge of the coordination of all the inventory projects, who I knew before, because at that time he was the president of El Salvador chapter of the SMBC, and also he was working with SalvaNATURA. The other biologist, who helped me to get involved with SalvaNATURA, was his herpetologist, who I had worked before in projects outside the institution.

Q: What projects have you worked on?
Karla: I have worked in several projects since I start work in the science program.  In 2006 I work as the herpetologist assistant in the flora and fauna inventory in Jucuaran, eastern zone of El Salvador. In 2007, I worked as a volunteer in a big project funded by USAID, and the science program was in charge of doing a mammal inventory of all the western area of the country.
In January of this year I was hired as the field coordinator of a flora and fauna inventory, also in the eastern zone of the country, in this same project I was also the herpetologist assistant.  In April, I was in charge of organized a workshop about importance of the environmental education in the biological corridor of Barra de Santiago-El Imposible.  In June and July I had the chance to work once more as the field coordinator of another inventory work in Playa El Icacal, also in the eastern part of the country.  Durning this time I worked also as the assistant of an icthiology specialist from the University of Texas, who came to inventory the fish, mollusks and crustaceans.
And in March I was hired by the general coordinator of the XII Congress of the Mesoamerican Society for Biology and conservation, Ph.D. Oliver Komar, who happens to be also, the director of the science program. He hired me as his assistant, so since that date I have been working in putting together this important event for El Salvador and also for the entire Mesoamerican region.

Q: So from herpetologist to assistant coordinator of the SMBC congress, that’s a big jump.  How do you like this position?
Karla: It’s a big jump. But like I have always said, you have to take advantage of every opportunity that comes to you. So for me, it has been a really good experience to learn other things besides the biology part. I am learning how to ask for funds, how to organize big events like this, and let me tell you that’s not that easy.  It requires a lot of effort and dedication. A good thing about working as the assistant coordinator is that I am being able to get a lot of contacts of the biology field. So at the end, I am just trying to say, that it doesn’t matter if is not really the area that you are experienced, but every time you have to learn new thing, because in the future all of them are very useful in you career.

Q: The biological community in Salvador is growing, but from what I understand it is difficult for young biologists like you to find work, is this true?
Karla: For my point of view it’s really hard. The opportunities of works for biologist is really minimum, specially if you are looking for a specific work for your area of interest, so, sometimes is better if you know other things, so you can be able to get more opportunities. One important thing is to get as soon as possible your degree, because if you have this you can get better jobs, and also is important to study for a master degree and to always keep improving your education.

Q: Having professional meetings like the congress brings more awareness to the need for conservation in El Salvador. Do you think that in general things are looking better for biodiversity conservation in this country?
Karla: Yes, I think having this kind of meeting is really important to let everybody know about the different projects that local scientists are doing, and presents all the important results of these projects. Also, these events are focus on the conservation of the Mesoamerican region. The most important thing is getting trough the young people like us, and makes us aware of the problems that ours countries are experiencing. In this last few year I know that in El Salvador there have been several projects involve in the conservation, but we require a massive change that involves all the community, not only the biologists.

Q:  What would you like students at the Nicholas School to know about SalvaNATURA, the SMBC congress, or El Salvador in general?
Karla: Well, I would like them to know, that besides the fact that we are the smallest country in Central America, we do have projects involving the conservation of our country.  I know that we need more efforts and of course, a lot of money to get this works done, but the biologist community is starting to do it.  This is going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort, but I am confident on our future generations to finish the work.
It’s important to let them know that we have this really important event coming soon in El Salvador (the SMBC Congress), and that is not only for biologist, is for all the people that care about the environment, and if they are interested about this event you are all welcome to come.
Karla Lara is an extremely enthusiastic biologist, and with more young people like her coming up in the biology field in El Salvador, they have a promising future as far as conservation efforts are concerned.  Anyone interested in the SMBC Congress can visit the following website: www.smbcelsalvador2008.com