 Education Updates
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Tropical Biology, Fall 2011 - Update from Las Cruces
 | Students collecting insects
(Photo M.García-C) |
Although Hurricane Irene delayed some students' arrival in Costa Rica, the group was finally complete at Las Cruces Biological Station. The students immediately began their studies with a focus on plants, covering the different plant parts, flower parts, fruit types and key plant families. The students also learned about the diversity and ecology of insects and how to identify insects by order and family using dichotomous keys. By the end of this site visit, each student was required to collect and identify 10 insects to family. For some students it was the first time that they had looked closely at insects or had seen them magnified under a dissecting scope.
Historically, coffee has been an extremely important crop for Costa Rica - influencing the country's social and economic development. The area around Las Cruces has been one of the main coffee growing regions in the country, and coffee was the main crop in the region for many years. Currently, some farmers still depend on coffee for extra income, but it is not as important as it was in the past. Taking advantage of the history of the region, students learn about the rise of coffee as an export product in Costa Rica, the social and conservation issues that surround coffee production and the issues that surround coffee in the global economy. As part of this section of the course students visited a local coffee farmer, Don Roberto, who spoke to them about coffee production and being a small coffee farmer. At the end, they had the opportunity to taste the coffee that is produced at his farm.
 | Fragment at Las Cruces
(Photo M.García-C) |
Las Cruces is surrounded primarily by pasture. As a result, forest restoration of abandoned pastures is an important topic at the station and students had the opportunity to hear Dr. Zak Zahawi, Director of Las Cruces and a restoration ecologist, talk about his ongoing restoration project and to visit his research plots. The area around the station consists of highly fragmented forest, thus, we take advantage of our stay at Las Cruces to discuss the causes and consequences of forest fragmentation. The students also explored a previous research site containing many small forest fragments. The students noticed the different biotic and abiotic changes that occur as you move from pastureland to a small forest fragment, and they were able to compare the fragment with the much larger Las Cruces reserve. A large part of the discussion during the fragment visit was how to improve connectivity between fragments and the obstacles to such improvement. Rather than driving back to the station, we hiked out of the fragment through some pastureland and cut into the Las Cruces forest. This provided the students with an opportunity to see a forest area of Las Cruces that is not commonly visited, and to think about what the land use surrounding Las Cruces means for the station. |
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Summer/Fall 2012 Undergraduate Applications Now Available
 Undergraduate applications for Summer 2012 Tropical Biology in Costa Rica and Global Health Issues in South Africa as well as Fall 2012 Tropical Biology on a Changing Planet, Global Health, and African Ecology and Conservation are now available. Please click here for program details.
Please contact the OTS Enrollment Management team (otsadmissions@duke.edu ) if you can help us connect with qualified students who would benefit from our field/research-based experiences.
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Station Updates
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La Selva Environmental Fair Sets Record Attendance
 Last month, La Selva once again opened it's gates to the public. Five years ago, this tradition became more formalized under the name "La Feria Ambiental" (Environmental Fair).
The station opened to the public at 8:00 am and continued until the final tour ended around 5:45 pm. Most attendees arrived by buses specifically hired for the event. We set records in attendance this year, with 1,071 people participating in the fair. Typically the event draws about 500 people, so this year they doubled the number of attendees!
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Army Ants Create Stunning Bridge at La Selva
Army ants are known for being wonderful engineers. The species Eciton burchellii occurs throughout the Neotropics, from southern South America to southern Mexico and a colony can consist of about 400,000 workers.
On November 2, La Selva's Station Director, Deedra McClearn, captured an amazing photo of an army ant bridge between the leaves of a tree and Casa 2, a researcher home at the station. The previous day, they had swept through Dr. McClearn's home in search of insect bodies. As Dr. McClearn noted, "They don't really do scrub-and-polish. It's more clean-out-insect-bodies and bite-a-few-toes-on-the-way."
Technically, they don't bite toes, but actually sting. The habitat for army ants is variable, but they are usually found in mature or second growth forest. They have been known to venture into coffee farms, various sorts of clearings, and human-altered landscapes, but there needs to be some reasonably extensive forest nearby. They occur in wet and dry forest, and up to lower cloud forest. Although the popular concept is that they devour everything in their path, their diet is not as generalized as commonly thought. They are not vacuum cleaners that leave a sterile swath. Their diet consists of the brood of other ants as well as large-bodied arthropods. They also seem to relish scorpions, amblypygids, katydids, crickets, and cockroaches.
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La Nación Features OTS Staff Research
 | | Photo by Duke Photography |
On October 24, the most popular newspaper in Costa Rica, La Nación, with over 500,000 readers, published a full page report on the ongoing research of Jennifer Stynoski, OTS Undergraduate Program Coordinator. Dr. Stynoski's research focuses on the maternal behavior of Oophaga pumilio, also known as the Blue-jeans Frog or Strawberry Poison-dart Frog.
Click here to view the original article (in Spanish).
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Outreach and Events
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Whales and Dolphins BioCurso -
A Trip for Friends and Alumni Alike!
 Whales and Dolphins are, without a doubt, some of the most beautiful creatures on earth. By joining this BioCurso, you will have the opportunity to see these large, majestic, and peaceful mammals. We will take you to some of the most beautiful spots along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, including the area surrounding Caño Island National Reserve and the Osa Peninsula coastline.
Our trip is scheduled during one of the best seasons to view whales, during the migration of Humpback whales from the Northern Hemisphere to the tropical waters of Central America. The migration of these whales ends in the tranquil, tropical waters of Drake Bay and Caño Island, where they give birth to their calves.  | | Click the leaf to request more information. |
We will also explore Corcovado National Park, a protected area of over 54,000 hectares (>134,000 acres) of humid rainforest and 2,400 hectares (5,930 acres) of ocean. Dates: March 12 - 15, 2012 Cost per person: $580 (Current OTS Members), $680 Non-Members
Included:
Local Transportation Private Transportation with air-conditioning Boat Transportation Three Whale/Dolphin watching opportunities
Visit to Sierpe Mangroves Accommodations
3 Nights at Bay Drake Hotel
Meals: 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 3 dinners
Activities
Visit to Caño Island Biological Reserve
Visit to Corcovado National Park
Others
OTS Coordinator
OTS Instructor (Marine Biologist)
Didactic material
Travel insurance within Costa Rica
Participation certificate
Not Included:
Tips/Personal expenses.
Breakfast first day
Snorkeling
Medical international coverage
Shuttle to the hotel in San José.
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Eco-Suitcase Project Arrives in Classrooms
 | | Contents of the first Eco-suitcase |
Thanks to funding from the H.B. Fuller Foundation, the Outreach and Environmental Education Program at Las Cruces Biological Station launched a new initiative in 2011, called Eco-Suitcases. The Eco-Suitcase project provides a suitcase filled with educational and instructional materials for
 | | Students and professor in Valle Azul School last October, with Ariadna Sánchez (Las Cruces Biological Station) and Andrea Montero (San Jose office). |
teachers in local schools. Each suitcase contains enough materials for 16 environmental education activities and is provided to public schools free-of-charge. This project complements the programs of the Ministry of Public Education in Costa Rica, with its emphasis on Science and Social Studies.
With this suitcase we aim to raise awareness about socio-environmental problems and enrich the knowledge in an integral way on how to solve those problems using sustainable practices. Teachers from Valle Azul and María Auxiliadora schools are already integrating the suitcases into the classroom and providing us with an assessment. With their feedback, we will be able to make the necessary adaptations and move to the next stage of creating more suitcases for distribution in more schools.
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OTS News
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Open Position: Resident Professor, Global Health
The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) is seeking applicants for the position of Resident Professor with the OTS-Duke University Global Health Undergraduate Semester Abroad Program in Costa Rica. This is a field-based program designed to provide undergraduate students with outstanding training in tropical medicine, public health, ethnobiology, and Spanish language and culture.
Successful applicants will work closely with the Education Director, Undergraduate Programs Coordinator, and other Resident Professors in curriculum design and implementation, and will be responsible for teaching in the Ethnobiology course. The position is based in Costa Rica, and requires a commitment of 8-9 weeks in the field and several weeks in the office during each semester. This is a full-time position with a required commitment of at least one year.
Qualifications:
- Ph.D. or M.Sc. in Ethnobiology with professional research experience in the tropics.
- A strong interest in team teaching and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Experience in field-based education and hands-on experiential teaching a plus.
- Excellent bilingual (English/Spanish) communication skills.
- Ph.D. or M.Sc. in Public or International Health a plus.
- Ability to work a flexible schedule and spend 9+ weeks, twice a year, living with students and faculty at field stations.
Anticipated start date: January 2, 2012
To apply:
Submit a single document as a pdf file that includes cover letter, CV, statement of teaching philosophy, and statement of research interests. Click here to submit your resume.
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Announcements
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2012 BCI Student Research Scholarship Program
Each year, Bat Conservation International awards scholarships to help students at universities around the world conduct conservation-relevant research. The goal of this program is to support exceptionally talented students in research initiatives that will contribute the new knowledge that is essential to conserving bats and the ecosystems they serve worldwide.
The maximum one-year award per student is $5,000. We hope that these funds will open opportunities for matching grants from other conservation organizations, government agencies and private foundations, and that BCI's support will grow in years to come.
Applications are now being accepted for 2012 BCI Scholarships. Only online applications will be considered. The deadline for completed applications is December 15, 2011
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