<p>There are two main approaches to international scientific cooperation between institutions in central and peripheral countries. The first argues that this cooperation generates useful knowledge to address development problems in the periphery, such as hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation. The second approach, on the contrary, argues that the knowledge generated is industrialized in central countries and does not lead to development in the periphery. We will argue that while international cooperation does foster development, it is crucial to question what kind of development, for whom, and for what purpose. As a case study, we examine scientific collaborations focused on the conservation of Magellanic penguins in Argentine Patagonia. These studies, largely funded by major international NGOs such as the Wildlife Conservation Society, enabled local teams to generate innovative knowledge in conservation. We show that this knowledge was fundamental for regulating and organizing an emerging economic activity: ecotourism in protected natural areas. This activity is based on the availability of native species that are highly attractive to domestic and foreign tourists. Therefore, we argue that these scientific collaborations contributed to the development of an economic activity typical of the periphery, that is, one based on the exploitation of its natural resources. The methodology used included bibliometric analysis from Web of Science data, public documents, and interviews with research leaders.</p>