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UPCOMING BIOCURSOS
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Pura Vida OTS! Blogger  Tropical Biology student Tiff Shao (Duke '12) has been blogging about her experiences as a member of the OTS Summer Tropical Biology program. In case you haven't been following along, here is an excerpt from her July 1 blog about Palo Verde:
There is no hot water in Palo Verde,
and it's great because after a long, sweaty, DEET-filled day outside,
or anywhere besides the air-conditioned classroom, that cold water on
your back feels glorious. Then again, Palo Verde is glorious. The
sunrise over the mountain lookout, which I've been up four times...
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the winding Tempisque River, which we just came back from this morning,
and just the sheer amount of life that's literally crawling between
every nook and cranny. I kid you not.
 So earlier today, back
from our Tempisque River Tour, where Crocs swam just a few meters away
and White-Faced Capuchins jumped onto our boat, I decided to take a
shower. Gone were the chemicals and caked blood from burst mosquitoes.
I step out, I grab a towel, I reach for my pants, and I find a
Scorpion. I kid you not. The following few minutes were spent by me
shouting "Give me back my pants!" and the chatter and squealing from
the people outside (who I'd asked to shake the bugger out).
Snakes
curl up near the bathroom and Tarantula nests dot the hillside right
outside our dorms. Macaws fly across the mountains at sunrise as Howler
Monkeys roar back and forth, and at us when we call at them.
We
are all scarred and itchy, and we all anticipate Rincon de la Vieja
(mud pots and hot springs!) tomorrow, but I think now we all appreciate
a little more... life's cycles and all its workings, big and small... that
it doesn't start with the rare Jabaroo, but with the humble Mosquito.
On
the academic side, 3 studies were done in Palo Verde: one group studied
the 'Optimal Predation Theory' with Jacanas and aquatic insects,
another Seed Dispersal, and my group looked at Pollination. I stood
ankle-deep in a marsh, under the sun, and stared at a single plant for
2 hours... and strangely enough, thought it was quite interesting. The
Jacana group had to wade through floating islands of cow dung.
We are almost at our final site, a primary feather in the wing of biological field stations (bad analogy, I know): La Selva.
I don't want to think about the end yet, and I won't because I have 2
tests, 2 presentations and 2 papers in the way, but I know it will jump
up on me, just like how June 15th jumped up on me a few weeks ago. I
will take each day in stride though, because there hasn't been a day,
not a single one, when I missed home or wanted to be elsewhere. I am
exactly where I belong. So, I go, and I will see you all in La Selva.
P.S. I still don't like mosquitoes very much.
You can read any of her posts at:
http://puravidaots.blogspot.com/ |
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OTS Graduate Courses in Costa Rica
2010-2011
Nothing can
replace the hands-on experience of a field-based course in the tropics. OTS graduate courses are open to students enrolled in graduate degree programs,
with preference given to students at OTS member institutions.
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Course Name
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Course Dates
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Application Deadline *
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Traditional Courses
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Ecología Tropical y Conservación 2010-2
(in Spanish)
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January 13 -
February
22, 2010
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June 19, 2009
Enrollment closed
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Tropical Biology: An
Ecological Approach 2010-
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January 21 -
March 16,
2011
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Oct 12, 2009
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Tropical Plant Systematics
2010-9
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June 10 -
July 13, 2011
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Feb 15, 2010
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Ecología Tropical y Conservación 2011-2
(in Spanish)
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January 14 -
February 23, 2011
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June 15, 2010
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Sistemática de Plantas Tropicales 2011-18
(in Spanish)
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June 8 -
July 11, 2011
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Nov 5, 2010
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Tropical Biology: An
Ecological Approach 2011-3
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Early June -
late July,
2011
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Feb 15, 2011
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Specialty Courses
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Plant-Animal
Interactions in the Tropics
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January 5-18, 2010
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Sept 16, 2009
priority + open enrollment
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* Notification date is
within 30-45 days after the application deadline for traditional courses and within
15-20 days for specialty courses. All courses will maintain open enrollment
until filled.
Other Specialty Courses
are being planned for 2010 and 2011. For
the latest information, please visit us online at www.ots.duke.edu.
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OTS Online
Auction
 We
are already planning for our 2nd OTS auction this fall. The auction will include a number of fun and unique items to raise money for our core
programs -- undergraduate and graduate programs -- and the more items we have
the more money we can raise, so we're asking for your help.
Give
a little and get a lot in return.
Whether you have 1 item or 100 to contribute, your participation is an
invaluable part of our fundraising efforts. By donating an item or service
directly online, you'll be helping to raise money for students and researchers.
We
are looking for items that would be of interest to the OTS community at large:
-
travel and adventure
opportunities in Costa
Rica -
scientific
publications of interest -
one-of-a-kind
experiences (i.e. a dinner with a special guest) -
framed artwork -
jewelry collectibles
As a non-profit organization, all auction donations are tax-deductible. If
you have an item you are considering donating to the auction, please contact Cathleen
Lemoine at OTS, 919/684-6969, or e-mail cathleen.lemoine@duke.edu. |
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