Mentoring

Mentoring the Next Generation

Approach

My mentoring philosophy grew out of decades of experience across all levels of education, from primary school to university — a journey that began when I first stepped into a classroom at 20. I mentor new generations to use systems thinking and the scientific method to understand complexity and drive meaningful change in the world. This philosophy draws inspiration from Mario Bunge's scientific realism and the work of Christopher Uhl, with whom I collaborated and who taught me that the deepest purpose of education is to help students live more deliberately and in harmony with the world.

José Silva and students

José Silva and students of the graduate program in Tropical Biodiversity, Universidade Federal do Amapá, Macapá, Brazil.

Students

Current
2026

Eduarda Dias Pantoja

Research and Outreach Assistant

International Studies, Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship · University of Miami

PhD
2022

Liza Khmara

Conservation for Development: Protected Areas, Economics and Governance

University of Miami

2022

Rachel Elizabeth Schueller

Designing Ecological Infrastructure: A conservation analysis of the Tropical Andes

University of Miami

2013

Teresa Cristina Albuquerque de Castro Dias

Brazilian Protected Areas: investments, management costs and economic potential

Universidade Federal do Amapá

2013

Andreza de Lourdes Souza Gomes

Oxidative stress in birds of forest gaps and mature forests in Amazon forests

Universidade Federal do Pará

2009

Edson Guilherme da Silva

Avifauna of Acre: Composition, Geographic Distribution and Conservation

Universidade Federal do Pará

2009

Helder Pereira de Araújo

Avian Communities in the Caatinga, Brazil

Universidade Federal da Paraíba

2007

Renata de Melo Valente

Spatial patterns in Amazonian bird communities

Universidade Federal do Pará

2006

Luciane Lopes de Souza

Seed dispersal by vertebrates in upland forests and igapó the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve

Universidade Federal do Pará

2005

Marcos Pérsio Santos Dantas

Avifauna of the State of Roraima: biogeography and conservation

Universidade Federal do Pará

2004

Sergio Henrique Borges

Avifauna of the Jau National Park: an integrated approach in landscape ecology, conservation and biogeography

Universidade Federal do Pará

2003

Maria de Jesus da Conceição Ferreira Fonseca

Biodiversity and sustainable development in the curriculum of the secondary schools of Belém, Pará, Brazil

Universidade Federal do Pará

2003

Sonia Aline Roda

Birds from the Center of Endemism Pernambuco: Composition, Biogeography and Conservation

Universidade Federal do Pará

MSc
2020

Joandro Pandilha dos Santos

Distribution of forest birds in a Neotropical savanna landscape

Universidade Federal do Amapá

2020

Jackson Cleiton de Sousa

Bird dynamics along savanna-forest boundaries in a Neotropical savanna landscape

Universidade Federal do Amapá

2017

Julia DiLeo

Vulnerability of Caribbean island-nations to future climate change

University of Miami

2017

Adriano Ferreira de Souza

Environmental attitude of the urban population of Macapá, Amapá, Brazil

Universidade Federal do Amapá

2010

Rodrigo Paulo Silvestro

Structure and dynamics of the assemblage of birds in response to the flooding cycle of a field of floodplain in Macapá, Amapá

Universidade Federal do Amapá

2010

Erica Ferreira de Araujo

Distribution of species of freshwater fish endemic to the Guayana Shield

Universidade Federal do Amapá

2009

Roberta Lucia Boss

Ecology of birds in an Amazon savanna in the State of Amapá

Universidade Federal do Amapá

2004

Manuella Andrade de Souza

Distribution patterns and conservation of passerine birds in the Caatinga

Universidade Federal do Pará

2003

Bruno Xavier de Freitas

Spatial distribution and social organization of Pipra rubrocapilla in a remnant of Atlantic Forest in Northeast Brazil

Universidade Federal da Paraíba

2003

Luiz Antonio Junior Coltro

The Tocantins river as a geographic barrier for suboscines birds

Universidade Federal da Paraíba

2003

Fernando Mendonça D'Horta

Geographic variation, intergradation zones and speciation in complex Icterus cayanensis-chrysocephalus

Universidade Federal do Pará

2002

Eduardo Siqueira Tenorio de Vasconcelos

Avian communities along a gradient of urbanization in the city of Recife, Pernambuco

Universidade Federal da Paraíba

2002

Carlos Alberto Uchoa Mergulhão-Neto

Integrity, implementation and feasibility of protected areas in the Atlantic Forest of the Pernambuco State

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

2002

Maria Alice da Silva Mendes

Audience research in tropical zoos: a case study in the Dois Irmãos Zoo, Recife, Pernambuco

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

2001

Marcos Pérsio Santos Dantas

Biogeographic analysis of the avifauna of an area of transition Cerrado-Caatinga in the center-south of Piaui, Brazil

Universidade Federal do Pará

2001

Lemuel Olivio Leite

Ecology and behavior of Pyriglena leuconota pernambucensis, a taxon endemic to the Atlantic forest of northeastern Brazil

Universidade Federal da Paraíba

2001

Rodrigo Pessoa Oliveira

Geographic variation in Conopophaga melanops, a species endemic to the Atlantic Forest

Universidade Federal da Paraíba

2001

Marcelo Cardoso de Sousa

The areas of endemism for passerine birds in the Atlantic Forest

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

2001

Cesar Marcelo Lima Peres

Spider communities in natural gaps and mature forest of the Atlantic Forest

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

1997

Suely Basilio de Souza

Sexual dimorphism in size in three species of thrushes

Universidade Federal do Pará