Wyss Fellows Training

The Wyss Fellows Program supports the development and training of the next generation of conservation leaders in the United States. Fellows work at sponsoring organizations on a variety of conservation campaigns and projects determined by their organization during a two-year fellowship. A key facet of the Wyss Fellows Program is an annual training where Fellows have the opportunity to develop applicable skills and learn about each other’s work. The most recent training focused on communications and was held in October 2022 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Over the three day training, Fellows heard from experts on topics ranging from public speaking to ethical storytelling.

“The training provided by the Wyss Foundation gave me the tools I needed, and could bring back to my organization, to inform our advocacy efforts,” said Skylar Begay, Tribal Outreach Fellow and Wyss Fellow at Archaeology Southwest. “The training also allowed me to connect with mentors and peers who I could reach out to if I needed help or advice.”

Santa Fe was an ideal location for the Wyss Fellows training because of its proximity to stunning public lands. The Fellows had the opportunity to visit some of these public lands with a trip to the Caja del Rio Plateau. This landscape is sacred to the O’ga Pogeh and Cochiti Pueblos and culturally significant to other surrounding communities. The area also contains important scientific, historical, and ecological value. Local experts led Fellows on a tour of the landscape and a short hike, highlighting the Caja del Rio’s unique features and the risks it currently faces from misuse. This experience helped the Fellows learn about efforts to protect public lands in New Mexico and see examples of how the communications tools they learned about in the training could be applied in the field.