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The 2011 OTS Calendar has Arrived!
 After a long delay, we are thrilled to announce that the calendars have arrived at the North American office.
We mailed calendars to our 2010 donors (if you requested one) last week.
If you are interested in receiving a calendar, please click here to become a member or renew your membership today! If you already made a donation and were expecting to receive a calendar and have not yet received one, please e-mail cathleen.lemoine@duke.edu.
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Identifying Future OTS Students
The Enrollment Management Staff spends a great deal of time identifying potential students to participate in our courses. Their efforts include electronic media outreach (short films, Twitter, Facebook, Thumbnail Highlights) and providing immediate and personal contact with our constituents by visiting students on their home campus. Here is a list of locations they are visiting this spring:
How you can help
We invite everyone based in academic institutions to help in our recruitment efforts by:
- Identifying and reaching out to qualified candidates
- Sending a list of potential undergraduate students and their email addresses to OTS Enrollment Management
- Placing a list-serve announcement in appropriate departmental newsletters
- Scheduling information sessions and/or making announcements in their classes about OTS programs
For more information, please e-mail the OTS Enrollment Management staff.
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First Galápagos Fur Seal Recorded in Costa Rica by OTS Staff Member
Andrea Montero, the OTS Education Specialist has documented the first sighting of a marine wolf in Costa Rica. Below you will find the abstract and a link to the full report. Congratulations Andrea!
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Abstract: This is the first record of Arctocephalus galapagoensis for the mainland coast of Costa Rica, which is outside the geographical distribution of this species about 1,300 km from its type locality. Changes in environmental conditions during El Niño events might be responsible for a higher incidence of these sightings. The presence of a moderate El Niño along the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean during this month coincides with the occurrence of the fur seal in Costa Rican coasts. No photo record had ever been registered before for this country.
Montero-Cordero, A., Martínez-Fernández D. & G. Hernández-Mora. 2010. Mammalia, Carnivora, Otariidae, Arctocephalus galapagoensis Heller, 1904: First continental record for Costa Rica. Check List Journal 6(4):630-632
Click here to download pdf.
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Graduate courses: Upcoming application deadlines
 Nothing can replace the hands-on experience of a field-based course in the tropics! OTS would like to remind all graduate students about our available graduate courses for the spring and summer of 2011. Application deadlines are just around the corner and we are offering two specialty courses in May and early June: Ecology and Conservation of Neotropical Rivers and Conservation and Restoration Genetics.
To be eligible for a course, an applicant must be fluent in the language in which the course is given. 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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 Annual Report Now Online
The 2009-10 Annual Report is now available for download on the OTS website. Click here to download. ( 3.57MB) Please consider the environment before printing this document.
We will have a limited number of hard copies available, if you are interested in receiving a hard copy, please call 919-684-5774.
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 The NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program will take place in Costa Rica between June 12 and August 5, 2011. This program offers students an exceptional opportunity to conduct an independent field research project in tropical ecology under the one-on-one mentorship of an experienced tropical biologist. During 8 weeks in residence at the La Selva Biological Station in the lowland rainforest of Costa Rica, a multicultural group of American and Costa Rican undergraduates will learn to design, implement, and report their own research projects, interact with dozens of internationally respected researchers and attend their seminars, and participate in valuable workshops on field techniques, research ethics, and statistics.
Student expenses are covered and students will receive a stipend.
In the interest of providing unique opportunities for a diverse cohort of exceptional students, undergraduates that are from underrepresented backgrounds, non-R1 schools, and OTS consortium schools are highly encouraged to apply.
Application deadline: January 31st, 2011
Should you have any questions please contact the OTS Undergraduate Program Assistant (kattia.mendez@ots.ac.cr) or the OTS/NSF REU Coordinator (stynoski@gmail.com).
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Professional Development Course for Teachers Scheduled for July 7- 20, 2011
 Continuing their efforts to harness the power of the "OTS method" to improve secondary science education, OTS BOV members Barbara Bentley and Joe Levine are again co-teaching a professional development course for teachers entitled "Inquiry and Conservation in Rainforests" from July 7 through July 20, 2011.
Based primarily at La Selva, this two-week course adapts and applies to teachers the long-standing OTS philosophy that the best way to understand science (and to teach science) is to DO science - through open-ended, inquiry-based research. The course welcomes middle school and high school teachers, as well as graduate students preparing for careers in teaching. Please help us get word out to qualified educators, as well as to potential sources of PD funding for participants.
 After introducing participants to tropical natural history and ecology, we guide them in asking questions, formulating hypotheses, designing and conducting experiments, analyzing data, and presenting and discussing results. Teachers also receive training in planning and producing videos for use in teaching, and in using video other "new media" to engage students. Additional discussions focus on issues in conservation of tropical ecosystems, and design of teaching and assessment plans for use in home institutions. CE/PD and graduate credit are available. Past participants tell us that the course has transformed and reinvigorated the way they teach biology.
Ken Miller (Brown U) and Joe Levine, along with Pearson Education, offer 3-4 full scholarships for this course. The program is also open to qualified applicants who bring their own funding.
We are striving to maximize both the number and diversity of middle- and high-school teachers who apply for our scholarships, as well as the number and diversity of science educators able to find other funding for the course. We are also searching for organizations, corporations, and individuals willing to provide professional development funds to enable more teachers to participate. Do you know teachers (or science supervisors) who would benefit from this course? Do you have any connections with graduate schools of education or teacher-training programs? Are you involved in any academic outreach programs to teachers?
For more information: see the course website @ www.inquiryinrainforests.org; for videos, see the course site blog pages and check Joe's VIMEO site; for existing scholarship opportunities, learn about the Miller/Levine Scholarship competition; and find out about competition rules and regulations.
Teachers with funding available can apply directly to the course through OTS.
Coordinators: Barbara Bentley. Joe Levine
Course Duration: July 7 to July 20 (fly down 7/6; fly home 7/21)
Application deadline: April 8 for priority admission; rolling admission to follow until course is full.
Course description
Application Form
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1% For The Planet
Organization for Tropical Studies has been approved as a 1% for the Planet Non-Profit Partner
1% for the Planet is a growing global movement of over 1300 companies that donate 1% of their sales to a network of over 2,300 environmental organizations worldwide. Since 2002, 1% for the Planet has inspired members of the business community to contribute 1% of sales to environmental groups around the world. In return, this growing alliance of companies is given the opportunity not only to see their self-worth rise, but their net worth climb as well.
OTS was approved as an eligible nonprofit in December 2010.
For more information, click here.
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Correction: Quetzal sighting at La Selva
The first Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) ever recorded at La Selva Biological Station was spotted by Alberth Ureña (La Selva guide), not William Ureña as stated in the December 15 E-Canopy.
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