Selected guest speakers from the Andes, Latin America, Europe or the United States of America who have distinguished in a particular field of research in relation to Neotropical mountains are invited to speak at UGA. It is co-sponsored by the Department of Geography's colloquium committee, and underwritten by either the Neotropical Montology Inititative, the Institute of Native American Studies, The Environmental Ethics Certificate Program, the Anthropology Department, the Institute of Ecology, and the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, or a combination of sponsorship with private donors. 2012 Dr. Constanza Ceruti, Professor of Andean Archaeology of the Catholic University of Salta and Researcher of the National Council of Research and Technology of Argentina. "Inka Mummies as Evidence of Sustainable Living with Sacred Sites" 2013 Dr. Oliver Chassot, Director of the Fundación Ciencia Tropical, Costa Rica, and Chair of the World Commission on Protected Areas' Mountain Connectivity Conservation: "Mountains and Connectivity Conservation in the 21st Century" 2014 Prof. Dr. Axel Borsdorf, Director of The Interdisciplinary Center for Mountain Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Director of the Geography Department of the University of Innsbruck. "Mountains of Latin America and the Need for Interdisciplinary Research" 2015 Mr. Randy Borman. Director of the Fundación Cofán and environmental leader and shaman of the Cofan nation, Ecuadorian Amazonia.“Navigating Fluvial Discontent: the Quest of the Cofan Survival in the Headwaters of the Amazon” 2016 Prof. Dr. Mark Bush. Director of the Conservation Ecology Program at the Biology Department of the Florida Technical Institute. "Forests, People, and Megafauna in the Ice-age Amazon-Andes" 2017 Ing. Nelson Ortega. Director of the Pan American Center for Geographical Research and Studies, headquartered in Quito, Ecuador, a branch of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History. "CEPEIGE activities in favor of geography in Latin America". Postponed to the International Workshop on Ecological Legacies and Ethnotourism. Coca 2023. 2018. Prof. Dr. Veerle Vanacker. Professor of Geography at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. "Landscape dynamics in tropical Andean ecosystems in response to natural and anthropogenic disturbances" Keynote speaker for the VULPES Ecuador conference. 2019. Dr. Tomás Ibarra. Professor of Intercultural and Indigenous Research, Center for Local Development, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, campus Villarrica. "The Web of Life: Birds and the Memory of South American Temperate Forests". 2020. Prof. Dr. Kelly Swing. Professor of Ichthyology and Director of the Tiputini Research Station in the Yasuni National Park. Universidad San Francisco de Quito. "The Amazon biocultural diversity: what brought us here and how science will take us out of it”. 2021. No program due to COVID restrictions. 2022. ESPOCH team (Renato Vasquez, Vinicio Gavilanez, Danny Castillo). Professors of Tourism and Natural Resources, the Superior Polytechnic School of Chimborazo. A holistic view of the Chimborazo Nature Reserve". 2023. Mountain Legacy Medal (Seth Sicroff). Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Program (postponed)
