The IIES is thrilled to welcome its newest member, the Federal University of Ceará in Fortaleza, Brazil. In October 2025, the membership agreement between the IIES and the Federal University of Ceará was signed. This new partnership will allow increased collaborations through researcher exchanges, joint training activities and joint research focused on the areas of climate change, biodiversity and natural resources management.
About The Federal University of Ceará
Established in 1954, the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) now boasts campuses in several cities across Brazil’s northeastern state of Ceará including Fortaleza, Sobral, Russas, Quixadá, Crateús and Itapajé.
With 36,000 undergraduate students and 14,000 graduate students, the UFC is ranked among the top 20 higher education institutions in Brazil.
Image: The Rectorate building at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), situated on its main campus in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Home to the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil is an incomparable sanctuary for over 10% of all wildlife species found on Earth. However, issues such as climate change, deforestation and forest fires are threatening the country’s abundant biodiversity1.
Surrounded by the rich and unique ecosystems of Brazil, UFC offers a number of both graduate and undergraduate programs aimed at better understanding and conserving its fragile biodiversity.
These programs are focused on several areas of environmental studies including the Planning and Management of Semi-Arid Zones and Border Ecosystems, Territorial Planning and Conflict Management in Coastal Environments and Terrestrial and aquatic ecology.
“UFC excels in the study of Brazilian semi-arid ecosystems, including the adjacent Equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Studies focus on the ecology, conservation, and impacts from human activities and climate change on the region’s ecosystems.”
– Professor Luiz Drude de Lacerda, Federal University of Ceará
To learn more about The Federal University of Ceará, please visit the link below. You can also check out their faculty profiles on our membership page.
- Source: https://www.wwf.org.uk/where-we-work/amazon ↩︎
