Elena Bastidas, Ph.D., became part of DCRS's faculty in August of 2007. Elena has been in charge of the Quantitative Research Methodology courses and preparing our Ph.D. candidates for Dissertation Research. She also teaches electives in the area of Conflict and International Development, Environmental Conflict, and Gender Analysis in International Development. Since 2010 she has developed Global Courses (DCRS courses that include an overseas component) and has taken students to Ecuador and Suriname. Her current projects include: In Suriname developing a Conflict Resolution capacity building strategy for government, NGOs, Indigenous and Maroons groups to deal with mining and land rights issues. In Colombia she is collaborating with a network of organizations to develop community-based sustainable opportunities that can provide economic stimulus to the young generation and break the vicious cycle created by conflict present in the area. In Ecuador she is involved in a research project on conflict between Tourism and Sustainable community development. As a consultant she is working in Paraguay in a HED-USAID project incorporating gender into the curriculum of the School of Agricultural Sciences, at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA).