The Handprint Challenge Competition is an annual opportunity for undergraduate students to form teams around a pressing global environmental issue, human-wildlife coexistence. Human-wildlife conflict is a global issue that poses a threat to environmental health, biodiversity, and to human livelihoods thus necessitating strategies to facilitate coexistence between humans and wildlife.

Given the complexity of human wildlife coexistence, successful approaches should take a One Health approach and be transdisciplinary in nature. The One Health approach recognizes the intricate connection between human, animal, and environmental health, aiming to address global challenges by acknowledging the interdependence of these three sectors. In this context, transdisciplinary means integration of knowledge across academic disciplines (e.g., animal science, wildlife management, social science, economics, epidemiology) and with non-academic stakeholders (e.g., agricultural producers, land managers, policy makers) to address societal challenges.

For Spring 2024, students are asked to propose a solution to a specific global wildlife coexistence issue: Human-Carnivore Conflict and Coexistence in Agricultural Landscapes.

Human-Carnivore Coexistence: Human-carnivore coexistence is a global challenge with an urgent need for real-world solutions. Successful coexistence entails the co-occurrence of sustainable carnivore populations and thriving human endeavors with minimal conflict. However, carnivores and humans have struggled throughout history to coexist, and the pattern is often one of conflict, with people impacted and predators killed. In particular, conflict resulting from carnivores attacking livestock is among the most important coexistence threats globally.

Raising livestock in landscapes with large carnivores requires developing and implementing novel, proactive approaches to prevent livestock losses to predators. Reducing conflict and facilitating coexistence in agricultural systems demands innovative thinking, transdisciplinary cooperation, and diverse skills that address the ecological, social, economic, and political aspects of this challenge.

Info Session: On February 15, 2024, at 4:30 PM, we will hold an info session in Lory Student Center 386 where you can enjoy pizza while learning more about the competition, seeing example presentations on solutions to address carnivore conflict and meet other students to form your team with.

After a series of presentations that will help give proposal ideas, there will also be an opportunity for you to ask the presenters questions and share and receive feedback on your own ideas. This will also be an important opportunity to meet other undergraduate students from other colleges to meet the two college per team requirement.

Competition Day: Competition day will be held at 5:00pm on April 18th [location to be decided]. During the competition, Handprint Challenge finalists will give a 10-15 minute Shark Tank style presentation to a panel of judges and an audience. You can do a talk, a powerpoint, a video, or the presentation format of your choice. Presentations should be creative! Have an invention idea? Share a prototype or a schematic. Creating a social enterprise? Talk through your business plan.

After presentations, judges will ask 10 minutes of brief questions. After all finalists have presented, we will have a social with heavy hor d’oeuvres while the judges deliberate. The event will end with an award ceremony to first-, second-, and third-place winners.

• The Handprint Challenge is only open to undergraduate students
• Teams must include three students
• Teams must represent at least two separate colleges
• In order to be considered to present on Competition Day, teams must submit proposals to mireille.gonzalez@colostate.edu by March 1, 2024, by 5:00 PM
• Winnings are to be split evenly amongst team members and are subject to taxes (the winning amount shown is before taxes)
• Competitors must be 18 years of age or older

Your proposals should, at minimum, include the following three clearly labeled sub-sections: problem identification (with model/diagram illustrating problem), proposed solution, and team member introductions. Proposals should be clear, logical, and free of errors. Proposals should be single-spaced. Page-length requirements do not include citations or references.

Solutions should be creative ideas to advance coexistence of humans with carnivores. You can propose an invention, the development of a social enterprise, a policy brief, or anything your team can devise to improve coexistence. You can see example solutions during the info session, which we recommend you attend.

Successful proposals will demonstrate students’ comprehension and application of the One Health approach to devise solutions. Additionally, proposals should highlight the formation of interdisciplinary student teams, and ensure that collaboration with non-academics (e.g., practitioners, community members, stakeholders, etc.; i.e., transdisciplinarity) is emphasized in the solution.

• Problem Identification (no more than 1 page): provide a description of the specific human-carnivore coexistence issue, including the carnivore species, the specific location (e.g., state, country, region, etc.) that the conflict is occurring in, and who the conflict is with. Provide sufficient background on the history of the conflict that the judges can understand why a solution for coexistence is needed.
• Proposed Solution (no more than 1 page): provide a description of the solution you will be proposing to reduce conflict and facilitate coexistence in the context you’ve identified. Research and be familiar with all aspects of your solution, whether it includes engineering, business, ecology, law, or any other creative intervention. Be sure that the proposed solution, and the approach to implement the solution, clearly articulates transdisciplinary and One Health components.
• Team Member Introductions (no more than 1/2 page): Introduce the team members, including their colleges, majors, and what their roles in this project will be.

By submitting an application, teams and team members agree to release and hold harmless the Center for Human Carnivore Coexistence, One Health Institute, and Colorado State University and its donors/partners and any of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies and all others associated with the development and execution of this competition and their respective officers, directors, shareholders, agents and employees (collectively the “Released Parties”) from any and all claims, injuries, damages or losses to the person or property and/or liabilities of any nature that in any way arise from participation in this competition or acceptance or use of a prize.

In the event that the competition is compromised by non-authorized human intervention, bugs, virus or other causes beyond the control of the Center for Human Carnivore Coexistence, One Health Institute, or Colorado State University which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper play of the competition, the Center for Human Carnivore Coexistence, One Health Institute, or Colorado State University reserves the right in its sole discretion to modify, suspend or terminate the competition or any portion thereof and/or terminate the participation of any team or team member whose conduct potentially compromises the Competition.