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Organization for Tropical Studies Undergraduate Semester Abroad 1 Organization for Tropical Studies Undergraduate Semester Abroad Program Fall 1998 E. I. Deinert, C. T. Ivey, T. E. Shelley, and E. Villalobos, editors 2 MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR Fall Semester 1998 by Todd Shelly The third iteration of the OTS Undergraduate Semester Abroad Program (USAP) came to a highly successful close on December 13, 1998, over much pan de ajo and pizza at the Il Pomodoro restaurant in San Pedro. We had a great group of students this semester – they were bright, enthusiastic, and accomodating, and teaching was a joy. The 25 students in the Program represented 16 colleges and universities, most of which were small private liberal arts colleges (for example, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Reed were represented). The largest contingent (8 of the 25 students) came from Duke University, which is not unexpected since Duke is the accrediting institution. The USAP teaching staff for this semester included Drs. Erika Deinert, Christopher Ivey, Todd Shelly, and Ethel Villalobos. Visiting faculty included Drs. Maarteen Kappelle of InBio, Deedra McClearn of OTS, William Pfitsch of Hamilton College, and Ethan Temeles of Amherst College. The Centro para Potencial Humanidad (CPH) under the direction of Yamillette Sanabria Rodriguez provided language instruction. The Program is mobile, and the following chronology includes brief descriptions of our activities in accordance with our itinerary. September 1 – San Jose The first morning of the semester was a time of introductions. Students first met one another, and the USAP and OTS staff introduced themselves. USAP staff provided specific information on the itinerary and course syllabi and outlined staff expectations of student academic performance and social behavior. Textbooks were distributed, and other logistic matters were handled. After lunch, we visited the Instituto Clodomiro Picado of the Universidad de Costa Rica in large part to gain a healthy respect for the venomous snakes of Costa Rica. We heard a lecture on the natural history of the more common species, the biological action of venom, and the treatment of poisonous snake bites. We also saw specimens of several common vipers, including the fer-de- lance (terciopelo) and the eyelash and jumping vipers. September 2-4 – La Selva We next traveled to Estacion Biologica La Selva in the Caribbean slope for a brief introduction to a lowland rainforest. Here, the students had an orientation walk through this spectacular forest and heard several lectures on Costa Rican geography and climate. A fruit lab was held, and students much enjoyed their first look at and taste of some exotic and delicious fruits. Here too, students were introduced to the CPH staff, and interviews here conducted to group students according to 3 their Spanish proficiency. Last, but hardly least, we made a river rafting trip on the Rio Sarapiqui, which was, needless to say, a huge success. September 5-25 – Santa Ana During these 3 weeks, students lived with Costa Rican families and spent 4 hours every weekday morning in Spanish class. The CPH language school is located in the small town of Santa Ana just west of San Jose, and its grassy campus has several small buildings with classrooms, a reading room, and a ranchito among overarching mango trees. Classes were small (5 students, on average), facilitating rapid development of conversational skills, which is the cornerstone of CPH’s teaching philosophy. Instruction was rigorous and included daily written assignments, interviews with local people, reading and discussing Costa Rican prose and poetry, and periodic quizzes and exams. A written report on Costa Rican life was required later in the semester. In addition to more traditional learning, students also participated in cooking typical Costa Rican food and learned traditional and modern dances of Costa Rica. We also made trips to the Museo Nacional, the Museo de Oro, and a local trapiche (sugar cane mill) and heard talks on indigenous peoples, colonial and recent history, folklore and myths, current problems of child labor, and contemporary gender issues. We were also very fortunate to have Deedra Hyde – the preeminent “nature artist” of Costa Rica - speak to our group on the role of art in environmental education. While emphasis was on language training, we did manage some field trips during this initial portion of the semester. Students were introduced to the spectacular butterfly fauna of Costa Rica in a visit to Finca Mariposas in La Guacima. Two mornings were spent birdwatching, and we saw aracaris, toucans, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, tityras, and mot-mots among other things. We also traveled to Volcan Poas, where students caught a glimpse of the crater and were introduced to high-altitude plants, and Reserva Biologica Carara where we went bird-watching and saw giant crocodiles along the Rio Tarcoles. Carara is adjacent to some Pacific beaches, and after hiking we hit Playa Herradura for some sun and surf. September 26 – October 17 – Las Cruces After a big fiesta with students and their host families, we hit the road and headed south to the Estacion Biologica Las Cruces. Once again, Las Cruces proved an excellent site for introducing students to the exuberance of tropical life. Accomodations in the Wilson House are extremely comfortable, the food is great, and the Wilson Botanical Garden is a living laboratory that beautifully showcases the tremendous diversity of tropical plants. We accomplished several important goals at Las Cruces. First, students received instruction in the identification and natural history of tropical plants. Raul Rojas led an informative tour of the Garden, and students were given lectures and practical exercises in plant vegetative and floral morphology. Two additional lectures – one on ethnobotany and the other on fungi – were delivered by Luis Diego Gomez, station director of Las Cruces. Also, Bill Pfitsch, a botanist from 4 Hamilton College, visited us for 1 week at Las Cruces and delivered two lectures on plant physiological ecology and led a field exercise that compared photosynthetic rates of sun- vs. shade-dwelling plants. Bill was a hit with the class- he presented complex information in a relaxed, yet orderly, demeanor that the students truly appreciated. At Las Cruces, students were also introduced two major agroecosystems in Costa Rica. Field trips were made to coffee fincas and to beneficios to gain first-hand knowledge about the biology and commercial aspects of coffee production. In addition, we visited a nearby oil palm plantation and received an extensive tour of the facility that included much in-depth information on the biology of the palm as well as the economic and social consequences associated with cultivation of this important crop. On the zoological ledger, we introduced students to tropical insects through collecting and identifying specimens and accompanying lectures on insect biology. A field exercise was also performed that compared insect diversity between two different habitats in the field station. In addition, students learned basic identification and biology of aquatic insects and compared samples at different sites along the Rio Jaba to examine effects of human perturbation on community composition and diversity. Aquatic insects are bizarre creatures, by and large, and the students really enjoyed working with them. Finally, students were given 4 lectures that introduced hypothesis testing and inferential statistics. Topics included – the normal distribution, independent and paired t-tests and their nonparametric equivalents, ANOVA and the Kruskal-Wallis test, multiple comparison tests, regression, correlation, and contingency tables. Accompanying exercises emphasized problem-solving using JUMP statistical softwear. Cerro de la Muerte – October 18-23 In mid-October, we headed north and spent 5 days exploring the beautiful oak forests and paramo found at the Cerro at elevations exceeding 3,000 m. The paramo here represents the northern most extension of Andean vegetation, and students really enjoyed seeing this exotic habitat. Maarteen Kappelle, an InBio researcher who is an expert in high-altitude plants of Costa Rica, led a field project analyzing altitudinal changes in plant communities. Students – especially those from New England – were happy to be cold, happy to wear sweaters and jackets, and happy to stay in a wooden cabin complete with fireplace (and hot chocolate!). Before heading back to San Jose, we also made an early birding trip and got good looks at several resplendent quetzals - the jewel crown of Costa Rica’s 850 bird species. Mid-semester break – October 24 – November 1 This week encompassed our mid-semester break, and students traveled to all parts of Costa Rica - mountains for some, beaches for others. A few, more adventuresome students also traveled to 5 Managua, Nicaragua, and to Barro Colorado Island, home of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in the Panama Canal. Palo Verde – November 2-8 After the week break, we headed northwest of San Jose to Parque Nacional Palo Verde where OTS maintains a field station. Thanks to Hurricane Mitch, we received rain and more rain and then some more rain. Convincing ourselves that wetness is largely a state of mind, however, we plowed forward and accomplished a lot during our stay. One of our major goals at Palo Verde was to allow students more freedom in doing field projects. Previously, we introduced students to field research via faculty-led projects. Here, however, students worked in 2’s or 3’s on short- term (3-day) projects of their own design. One day prior to departing Palo Verde, students reported their findings in 15-min oral presentations to the entire group. Students did a great job with this, and their projects addressed a variety of interesting topics, including territoriality in jacanas, age-dependent herbivory in ant-Acacia plants, and anti-predator function of wing coloration in butterflies. In addition to the projects, students heard a talk on the biology of mangroves and then made a half-day trip down the Rio Tempisque to see a beautiful mangrove forest.
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