Culture & Nature: Connections that Count
26 August - 13 September 2008
Just one week left before course starts!
| 2008
UW Exploration Seminar in
Costa Rica Culture & Nature: Connections that Count 26 August - 13 September 2008
Just one week left before course starts! |
|
| PROJECT LEADERS | Link to UW Exploration Seminar Costa Rica course description |
| COURSE SCHEDULE | Link to Rancho Mastatal |
| PLANNING/WHAT TO PACK | Link to student projects from previous courses based in Mastatal |
| SYLLABUS |
Welcome to the Costa Rica UW Exploration Seminar - here you'll find information about the course, including meeting times, itinerary, readings, and basic background information.
Dr. John E. Banks, Environmental Science program, University of Washington, Tacoma
John "Buck" Banks has been working with insect ecology at the University of Washington and Washington State University for over 15 years. He is especially interested in the interface between agricultural and natural ecosystems, and has spent much of his career exploring how mixtures of natural vegetation in and around agroecosystems may bolster pest control as well as enhance biological diversity. Combining data with mathematical models, he has conducted field studies in both temperate and tropical ecosystem, with recent work exploring insect biodiversity in the tropics, including studies in Mastatal and on coffee farms further inland in Costa Rica. A full-time faculty member at the University of Washington, he teaches courses in the Environmental Science program in the Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the UW Tacoma campus.
Link to Buck's UW faculty page
Thomas "Tiburon" McDonald, University of Washington/Tropical Adventures in Education
Tom McDonald, a research scientist in the UW School of Medicine, specializes in educational programs in the tropics, with extensive experience organizing and leading tours in Costa Rica. Trained in restoration ecology and science education, Tom is also owner of Tropical Adventures in Education, which facilitates educational opportunities for secondary school and higher education students from around the U.S.
PERSONNEL ON THE GROUND:
In Mastatal, Tim O'Hara & Robin Nunes will host us at the Rancho Mastatal Environmental Learning Center; click here for pictures/bios of Tim & Robin!
Also helping out in the field during our time in Costa Rica will be Angela Costanzo - click here for Angela's picture/bio!
Course participants should plan to arrive in Alajuela, Costa Rica on or before Tuesday, August 26th. We will all meet up the next day (27th August) in order to travel to Mastatal in the afternoon, where we'll spend the next nine days. On September 6th, we'll depart Mastatal for the coast in order to participate in a sea turtle conservation project for a few days, and then we'll go on to explore the cloud forest habitat of Monteverde. We'll return to Alajuela on 12 September to wrap up the course. Students are then free to depart for Seattle on the 13th, or continue travelling on their own. Click here for a more detailed schedule of activities (including contact information in Costa Rica)!
Click here for a list of suggestions to help organize your packing for the adventure!
Site created & maintained by J.E. Banks; please send comments to banksj@u.washington.edu