Initiated in 2007, the initial focus of the Partnership for Asian Wildlife Studies (PAWS) has been to establish regional hubs for conservation research and training in Minnesota, Thailand, and Nepal. As the primary implementing units for partnership activities, these centers emphasize international communication, collaboration, and information sharing. Each center derives value from and adds to the value of other centers through a synergy of programs and resources.

The primary goal of the partnership during year one is to develop the administrative and logistical framework for continued funding and delivery of innovative, international research as well as academic and professional training in the fields of conservation biology and conservation medicine. A key secondary goal is to further develop opportunities for academic and professional development for a broad range of individuals in each partner country.

The partnership is significant in that it has established (US and Thailand partner institutions) or enhanced (Nepal partner institution) new conservation centers with the capacity to develop, administer and support a range of international, interdisciplinary research and conservation endeavors. Through a variety of specific activities and opportunities, these centers complement each other to meet research, educational, and professional training needs in each of the partner countries.

The CLAWS laboratory at the University of Minnesota is the communications center of the partnership and is involved with developing research and training opportunities for faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students.

Mahidol University has made significant investments in developing a new campus in Kanchanaburi, Thailand with an academic emphasis on Conservation Biology and Veterinary Medicine. Mahidol seeks to strengthen the linkage between these programs, and this partnership complements other efforts by providing innovative mechanisms for curriculum and research development. These efforts will parallel and provide synergy to a similar process developing here at UMN to develop linkages between the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology and programs of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation has recently demonstrated its commitment to conservation education and training through the construction of a new training facility at its Biodiversity Conservation Center in Royal Chitwan National Park. NTNC seeks dynamic partnerships to enhance their research, training, and professional development offerings. Several individuals involved in this partnership have conducted training and research through the Biodiversity Conservation Center.

The international nature of the partnership is reflected in the collaborative research endeavors supported by the conservation centers and the shared responsibility for hosting and delivering multinational research and professional training opportunities. Individual partners spend significant time in residence in foreign partner countries pursuing research and development goals and implementing academic and professional training courses. Meetings of the partners provide opportunities to coordinate activities and to develop strategic goals beyond year one of the partnership.

The key innovation of the partnership is a complementary structure that draws on the unique strengths of each partner institution to contribute to each a more well-rounded suite of opportunities and a significantly larger pool of aggregate knowledge. The communication and information-sharing activities of the partnership ensure that these resources are made available to all partner institutions and to the wider public.