The INECOL in its 40th anniversary. An appraisal for an outstanding Mexican scientific institution.
The reason that led me to write the following short reflections is the recent publication of the book “40 años de éxitos. La historia del INECOL” by Sonia Gallina Tessaro and Imelda Martínez Morales on the occasion of the Mexican Institute of Ecology’s 40th anniversary.
The INECOL (Instituto de Ecología, or Institute of Ecology, or ‘El Instituto’ - ‘The Institute’, as it is familiarly known) was founded by Gonzalo Halffter Salas in Mexico City in 1975. Gonzalo Halffter Salas is one of the most brilliant international scientists in the area of Natural Sciences worldwide. A small group of his students and collaborators at the IPN (National Polytechnic Institute)’s School of Biology – one of the most prestigious Mexican universities - accompanied him in this enterprise. They were Pedro Reyes, the late Violeta Halffter, Yrma López, Carmen Huerta, Sofía Anduaga, Gema Quintero and Sabina Gómez. A short time later three very young researchers from the equally prestigious UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) also joined the Institute. Among them there was Sonia Gallina Tessaro, the first author of the above-mentioned book. The second author, Imelda Martínez Morales, permanently moved from IPN to the Institute in 1989.
After more than a decade, the INECOL was relocated from Mexico City to Xalapa, the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz. At present, the Institute has several research facilities in the states of Veracruz and Michoacán, as well as field research stations in a coastal area of Veracruz and in both a pine forest area and a desert region in the northern state of Durango. Since its creation, the INECOL has quickly become one of the most prominent institutions for ecology research worldwide. The Institute is currently formed by 10 academic networks : Biodiversity and Systematics, Functional Ecology, Environment and Sustainability, Evolutionary Biology, Pests and Vectors Biorational Management, Biotechnological Resource Management, Ecoethology, Biology and Conservation of Vertebrates, Multitrophic Interactions, and the recently created network of Advanced Molecular Studies.Approximately 120 full-time scientists 103 technicians, 123 post-graduate students, over 100 staff hired through external grants, as well as 30 administrative staff, currently work at the INECOL. They carry out research and post-graduate students training in the areas of ecology and related disciplines in a variety of topics ranging from basic research (taxonomy, faunistics, floristics, biogeography, behavioural ecology, evolution) - to the most recent frontiers of both pure and applied molecular biology (www.inecol.mx).
INECOL is a true giant in its field. Had it not pursued international scientific research to the highest standards, global science would have not advanced as it has, and generations of scholars – including the author of this appraisal - would not have been able to contribute to it.
It is my firm belief that the sciences of Nature in its broadest sense are subject to historical constraints. What has been thought and written at a given time represents the indispensable basis for further analysis, for new conjectures or refutations. Also from an ethical perspective, a careful researcher cannot and should not disregard the history of the scientific area in which he or she operates, appreciating its nearest and its more or less remote past. Addressing a given topic, he or she cannot and must not ignore the thought of those who preceded him or her, and the historical, social and linguistic context in which they worked. Therefore, I consider vital for any researcher to know not only the work of those who preceded him or her in their research area, but also their biography, their history, and the history of the institutions in which they operated, in order to fully understand their ways of thinking, and their visions of the world.
In this frame, the book that Sonia Gallina Tessaro and Imelda Martínez Morales, two highly prominent international scientists that come from and still work at INECOL, have just edited gains an even greater importance. The volume addresses the numerous scientific and cultural developments that the INECOL has managed to offer, having deeply focused on and innovatively tackled the many issues involved with sustainable environmental management from its very beginning. The Institute has also successfully managed to keep a constant open dialogue with all the researchers and other staff who have been involved in different initiatives on the ground throughout the decades, and with the diverse political and administrative authorities nationally and internationally. Two very quick but poignant examples that illustrate the INECOL’s numerous successes: the Institute strongly promoted the planning and the realization of the first biosphere reserves - Mapimí and La Michilía, both in the State of Durango - under the global UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) program between 1977 y 1979, according to what is now universally known as the ‘Modalidad Mexicana’ or Mexican Modality. Also, during its earliest years of activity INECOL elaborated a very detailed project of urban ecology concerning the whole valley of Mexico City. Moreover, the international network of research collaborations between the Institute and other countries has always been intense and highly differentiated. The INECOL has been building numerous formal and informal links with institutions, researchers and students from a number of countries such as France, Great Britain, the United States, Spain, the former Soviet Union, Italy, and Brazil to name a few. Many of these collaborations are still very active, mostly in the fields of research and training, and especially at Master’s and Doctorate levels. Following the tradition of hospitality that is rooted in Mexico since the 1930s under the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, the Institute has welcomed with open arms refugees and exiled scientists fleeing the persecution of the regimes in their countries of origin. This allowed a number of international scientists to comprehensively collaborate with the INECOL’s staff. Moreover, the international network of research collaborations between the Institute and other institutions and even single scientists continually increases.
Today, one of the Institute’s core missions is still to generate and spread scientific and technological knowledge about the biology of species, populations, ecosystems, and thereby contributing to the management and conservation of the biodiversity of Mexico 's renewable natural resources. In fact, at the INECOL’s central headquarters as well as at its other locations seminars and conferences on a range of ecological and naturalistic topics are organized on an almost daily basis, and they are not just directed to a specialized audience but many are aimed to include the wider public. In parallel, the INECOL publishes six scientific journals, and its catalogue of published books include more than thirty different titles still available. The INECOL library, in addition to an extended section of printed books and journals as well as an extremely rich collection of original recorded audios of Mexican birds, also has an availability of around 200 scientific e-journals. The Institute also houses extensive zoological and botanical collections and its famous Botanical Garden, named after the great eighteenth-century Mexican naturalist Francisco Javier Clavijero.
In spite of all its success, the history of INECOL is not free from moments of crisis. The economic and financial difficulties of Mexico during the 1980s had repercussions also on the Institute. Nevertheless, this challenge was developed into a possibility for reorganizing the entire structure and projects in progress. Another very complex moment was in 1989 when the INECOL’s headquarters, with a great part of its scientific, technical and administrative staff, moved from Mexico City to Xalapa incorporating at the same time the INIREB (National Institute of Biotic Resources). This restructuring and renewal led to the opening up of even more new lines of research, but also to carry on the highly demanding task of renovating and expanding buildings (an entire campus), refurbishing equipment, and even renovating a famous botanical garden that is now included in the premises of the Institute. The timing of the INECOL’s enormous reallocation unintentionally coincided with a new presidential mandate for the country. This involved more administrative procedures and paperwork but also a renovated commitment to enhance the INECOL’s visibility, its activities and strategic importance. Opportunely, thanks to the efforts of its Executive Board and to political foresight at both federal and local levels, both these challenging moments were turned into great success, and the INECOL is continuing to grow and advance.
The Institute is currently going through a period of great expansion where it is widening its lines of research, its training and academic activities, its operational presence in strategic areas of Mexico, as well as its network of international collaborations even further. Those who know their past can work towards their future. For this, and for many more reasons, today we celebrate the first forty years of the Instituto de Ecología, its outstanding past, and its luminous future.
References
- Gallina Tessaro S. & I. Martínez Morales, 2016. 40 años de éxitos. La historia del INECOL. Instituto de Ecología, A. C. Xalapa (Veracruz), Mexico. ISBN 978-7579-50-2
- http://www.inecol.mx/
Mario Zunino