Garth Walker

Claudio Valladares-Padua has bachelors’ degree in Business Administration and Biology. He started his graduate studies at the University of Florida in August, 1984, completed requirements for a Master of Arts degree in January of 1987 and for a Ph.D. in 1992. Claudio is a co-founder and Vice-President of the Board of IPÊ – Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research) in Brazil.

In Brazil, he is also a retired Professor at the University of Brasília and Rector of the University for Conservation and Sustainability ESCAS in Sao Paulo. Claudio is also a sustainability board member Natura Cosmetics Amazon Program, Fibria Paper and Pulp Corporation, the Coca Cola Institute, the Arapyaú Institute and Inseed the asset management company that concentrates its efforts and investments on start-up companies with a social and environmental innovation profile.

Claudio Padua Is Driven By | A planet where humans and the rest of the fantastic biodiversity can coexist in harmony forever and ever.

My Highlights | I am very proud of a generation of young Brazilians I have been able to give some mentoring to. By now, I see many of the youngsters I helped form giving nice contributions in different regions of Brazil and even worldwide. This makes me feel rewarded, as it is a multiplying effect of my efforts to inspire others to work for a better world.

The Difference Between Good And Great | To be good at what you do you need a goal to be great you need a dream.

A Key Talent | In my view, success is made not only of inspiration and toil. One of the qualities I have that I correlate with success is persistence. Almost nothing that I accomplished and that I am proud of was easily and promptly completed. So, if I had to give an advice on this topic is to believe in your dream and persist, persist, persist.

Critical Skills I Develop | To work towards a dream hand in hand with a group of young motivated people. Perhaps the skill that I have used is to inspire others that each one has the potential to make changes that are worthwhile for many people and for nature in general. From then on, people go their own way to seek knowledge and the skills they need to perform well.

Lessons I Have Learnt | The pleasure and the success is not only at reaching  a goal, but at enjoying every minute of your journey.

Performing At My Peak | When I am achieving good things and I am happy in doing it. The aim has to be seen as a point to be reached, but all the lessons that need to be learned in the path to get there are as important as or even more than getting there. So, if you see the hardships through such a perspective, they tend not to be so difficult to be overcome. Besides, all of these hardships become lessons that can be shared with others who may avoid the same mistakes that you have made.

The Best Advice I’ve Received | You have to have eyes to see in a life of ceaseless toil. This was the advice I received from a knowledgeable tutor, Prof. Coimbra Filho, with whom I worked when I began my career in conservation, more explicitly, in primate conservation.

Advice On Building Wealth | Money is a consequence. You have to pursue a dream with all your strength and then magically the wealth will come to you.

On Inspiring Others | I invest a great deal of time talking to the people who work with me, advising and motivating them to progress in what they wish to do. Besides, I am always modernizing my goals, which includes what I listen and learn from them.