 OTS News
|
|
|
Holiday Gift Memberships
 Consider giving the ultimate green gift this year: a one-year gift membership to OTS! We will send a special card to the person honored to let him/her know that you have made a very important gift in his/her honor, to help us teach, research and conserve the biodiversity of the tropics.$50 Gift Membership - Honorees will receive a Holiday Card with your message and your choice of gift for them (OTS T-shirt, OTS bag or Luggage tag)$100 Gift Membership - Honorees will receive a Holiday Card with your message and your choice of two OTS gifts (OTS T-shirt, OTS bag or Luggage tag)
To make a gift in honor of someone or renew your own membership, click here. *To guarantee delivery by December 25, please submit your Gift Membership requests by December 16, 2012.
|
Life Shorter in the Tropics
 A worldwide initiative to define the challenges facing the peoples of the tropics was launched by 13 leading research institutions across 12 countries.
The group has released an early insight of its planned State of the Tropics Report with details of why life expectancy is lower in the region than in the rest of the world. The first of four early insights ahead of the State of the Tropics Report was released in Nairobi, Kenya, by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nairobi, Professor George Magoha. The President and CEO of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), Professor Elizabeth Losos, said that this first insight on Life Expectancy in the Tropics showed significant improvements over the past 60 years.
The full report, to be published next year, will shine a light on the critical importance of the people and issues of the tropical world, and contribute to efforts to improve the lives of the peoples of the Tropics and their environment. The 13 institutions involved are: Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica; Escuela Superior Politiécnica del Litorial, Ecuador; James Cook University, Australia; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, England; Mahidol University, Thailand; Singapore's National University and the Nanyang Technological University; University of Copenhagen, Denmark; University of Hawaii - Manoa - USA; University of Nairobi, Kenya; University of Papua New Guinea; University of the South Pacific, Fiji; and, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil. Read more here
|
Mortality responses of tropical forest seedlings to climatic variation
 Thanks to funding by Credit-Suisse "Credit Suisse Cares for Climate" initiative, Danaë Rozendaal, a post doc under Dr. Richard Kobe of the Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, has conducted a study on how seedlings at La Selva respond to current and past variation in climate, allowing scientists to better predict the way seedlings will perform in the future.
The "Credit Suisse Cares for the Climate" funding was awarded in 2011 on a competitive basis through OTS. Dr. Rozendaal's project was one of 20 projects submitted for consideration. Dr. Rozendaal hopes to publish her results in the near future.
Click on the link below to read a summary of the report.
Seedling Responses to Climate |
Recruiting is a Team Effort
The OTS Enrollment Management team would like to express our thanks to the many individuals in the OTS community who gave their time and assistance during the Fall '12 recruiting season. Thanks to your support, our Spring '13 participants are excellent and will make wonderful additions to the OTS alumni community in the future.
Now we are recruiting actively for the Summer '13 Tropical Biology and Global Health in South Africa programs, as well as the Fall '13 semester courses in Global Health, Tropical Biology, and African Ecology and Conservation. The next E-Canopy will include our campus visit schedule. We welcome your continued assistance in visiting your campus. In early January, we will contact our campus resources to ask about posting list-serv announcements and other suggestions on how to best reach qualified students.
Once again, thank you for your support. Please know, we could not do it without you.
|
 |
OTS 2013-2014 Graduate Course Schedule Now Available
| |
|
|
2012 NAPIRE Student Recognized at SACNAS
 | | Robert Hall (NAPIRE 2012) explains his summer research to a SACNAS National Conference. Robert won a cash award for his presentation. |
Robert Hall, an undergraduate participant of the 2012 OTS NAPIRE (Native American and Pacific Islander Research Experience) program was recently recognized at the SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) conference for his poster presentation based on his research at Las Cruces in Costa Rica. SACNAS is a society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists-from college students to professionals-to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership. The organization serves over 25,000 students and professionals each year with its conference and year-round programs, and thrives on the dedication and support of hundreds of volunteers.
We congratulate Robert on his recognition and wish him great success in the future. |
Station Updates
|
6th Annual Environmental Fair at La Selva
 Once again, La Selva opened its doors to the Sarapiquí community to share in a day filled with environmental science. Participants learned about major research projects that are being conducted at La Selva, took guided walks along the trails of the station, and participated a variety of artistic and traditional activities from the region.
|
PhD Student Creates Video based on Tempisque Basin Research at Palo Verde
 | Fostering Future Water Sustainability in Tropical
Mesoamerica - 2012 NSF GRFP Video Contest |
Natalie Nelson, at PhD Student of the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, University of Florida, recently submitted an entry to the 2012, NSF-sponsored, "Creating the Future" video contest. The contest was open to current fellows and had the goal of demonstrating how their research can shape the future--for them, as individuals, their fields of work, or even the world.
Ms. Nelson's video focuses on the water sustainability in the lower Tempisque region and Palo Verde National Park.
|
Field Notes
|
South Africa Update
 Things definitely have heated up on
the OTS Fall semester in South Africa as we moved around the arid Northeast. Read
about each location in detail in this special travel edition of the Tyemes.
Click here to download the current newsletter.
|
External News
|
Bat Conservation International Scholarships
 Each year, BCI 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
The deadline for applications is December 15, 2012.
|
|
|
|
