Costa Rica: Tropical Field Ecology and Conservation

Why Costa Rica?

Costa Rica occupies just 0.03% of the Earth's land surface but contains more than 4% of the planet's biodiversity.  The country's climate, varied topography, location between two continents, and often enlightened ecological policies have contributed to the generation and persistence of its incredible species richness.

Monteverde, the base for the program, is bordered by three cloud forest preserves that include a mountaintop and its windward Atlantic and leeward Pacific slopes. The pronounced temperature and moisture gradients on these slopes produce varied habitats that are home to over 450 species of orchid and more than half of Costa Rica's 850 bird species.

Monteverde is faced with rapid development, in large part because of these preserves. During the program, working with local residents, researchers, and staff from the Monteverde Institute, students will study tropical communities and the organisms that inhabit them, and investigate possibilities for a sustainable future.

Course Description

A field-based introduction to the ecology and conservation of tropical regions, with travel to the tropical cloud forest community of Monteverde, Costa Rica over spring break.  Course activities include interpretive hikes and analytical field projects in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Children's Eternal Rainforest, Carara National Park, Tarcoles estuary and mangroves, field work in support of Monteverde conservation initiatives, on-site discussions of agriculture practices and their ecological impacts, seminars and discussions with biologists and local residents, and many opportunities to observe and analyze how a variety of organisms, including humans, make a living in a tropical cloud forest community.  Students will immerse themselves in exploring the intricacies of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environments, and will also forge a strong sense interconnectedness with the natural world.

Course participants will meet weekly for a discussion section throughout the semester, first to prepare for and then to analyze and reflect upon the field experience. Drawing from their field observations, students will complete a natural history project in which they will engage a target audience and teach them something about the natural world in Monteverde or about an environmental challenge and how we might address it, aiming to communicate sound science while resonating with the intended audience. Past student projects include children's books, interactive presentations at local schools, posters, scientifically annotated photographic displays, illustrated essays, and a radio show. 

Learning Goals

Tropical Field Ecology and Conservation introduces students to the tropical forest, with emphasis on Monteverde's tropical cloud forest. Students will experience and investigate these forests, exploring them from ecological and evolutionary points of view.  As students study the broader Monteverde community, including its human inhabitants, they will adopt an interdisciplinary perspective and evaluate conservation issues integral to the survival of all. Students in this course will:

• Distinguish among and formulate questions in the natural and social sciences, and understand the methodologies and evidence appropriate to these disciplines.
• Observe closely, identify organisms and phenomena.
• Record information and communicate using images, written and spoken word, and numerical quantification.
• Clearly differentiate observations and interpretation.
• Consider and address complexities and ambiguities.
• Make connections among ideas, distil patterns.
• Recognize choices, examine assumptions and ask questions of themselves and of their own work as well as the work of other researchers.
• Design and test hypotheses, gather and interpret data, formulate conclusions based upon evidence, consider alternative explanations.
• Relate experiences in this course to other studies and to educational goals.
• Take an educational and personal journey in a new place, context and culture and immerse themselves in experiencing Costa Rica's rich environment. 

Sample itinerary

Saturday - Group travel to San Jose, Costa Rica

Sunday - Visit to CASEM. Guest presentation  on The History of the Quakers in Monteverde. Activity in Santa Elena. Guest presentation on bats and mist-netting. 

Monday - Tropical Cloud Forest Ecology, The Monteverde Institute, Climate Change

Tuesday - Field observations in a rain shadow forest. Visit to an organic coffee farm. Guest presentation on the history of Costa Rica.

Wednesday - Data collection in reforestation plots in Three-Wattled Bellbird Biological Corridor. Hike to San Gerardo field station. Guest presentation on The Children's Eternal Rainforest. 

Thursday - Field walks and field study projects. Guest presentation on Amphibian Declines and Partial Recovery.

Friday - Field study projects and hike out of San Gerardo. Guest presentation on Introduction to Mangroves.

Saturday - Nature walk in Carara National Park.  Boat trip on Tarcoles estuary and mangroves.

Sunday -  Bird observations and travel back to Skidmore.

important information

Dates: March 7 - 15, 2020

Prerequisite: Travel seminar students will have completed either BI 108 or ES 105. Students who have also completed a 200-level Biology course are encouraged to enroll concurrently in the on-campus, 3-credit lecture and discussion course BI 325 "Tropical Ecology".  Travel seminar students will be given enrollment priority for BI 325.

Credits: 2 credits for the travel seminar including weekly one-hour meetings for the spring semester.

Program Fee: The anticipated fee is $3,950 (subject to fluctuation). The program fee includes Skidmore tuition, round-trip airfare between New York and San Jose, Costa Rica, ground transportation for program excursions, on-site accommodations in field stations, all meals, international medical insurance, entrance fees, local resource faculty, excursions and Skidmore faculty. Financial aid is available for eligible students. 

Meals and Accommodation: The program fee includes program housing in shared accommodations at two field camps in Costa Rica. All meals while on-site are included in the program fee. More specific information about meals and housing will be communicated to students upon acceptance. 

Flights: Roundtrip airfare from Albany or New York City is included in the program fee. 

Application Process: The deadline for applications is October 15, 2019. Students are required to apply for Travel Seminars through the MyOCSE portal.  Applications will be reviewed and students will be notified of acceptances before spring 2020 course registration. 

 

Questions?

Stop by the OCSE office (Starbuck 202) or contact Professor Monica Raveret Richer (mrichter@skidmore.edu) directly.