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CIEE Study Center Monteverde Fall semester, Spring semester Resident Director Report Monteverde semester Fall 2002 Resident Director Report CIEE Study Center in Monteverde, Costa Rica Fall 2002 Submitted by: Alan R. Masters, Resident Director 1. Mission The goal of the CIEE-ISP program in Monteverde, Costa Rica is to offer students of biology and related majors a sophisticated view of tropical ecosystems. Moreover, the program is designed to give students the skills, including an understanding of both language and culture, to evaluate conservation efforts in the social context of Costa Rica. In all cases, the learning is largely experiential. 2. Academic Program The academic portion of the program is designed to give biology majors (and majors in related fields, like environmental sciences) a full semester of upper division credits in their major. All courses are CIEE offerings. Theory, review of empirical patterns, hands-on exposure to an array of tropical ecosystems and conservation efforts, taxonomy of major groups and direct experimentation are the focus. The Tropical Community Ecology course attempts to understand the structural and functional aspects of natural communities and what happens to such structure and function when the community is perturbed. This includes climate, soils, productivity, nutrient cycling, plant life forms and their adaptations, gap dynamics, predation, seed dispersal, pollination, mutualism, food webs and the role of biodiversity in basic ecosystem function. Further, the conservation aspects of communities are explored: what are the greatest threats to communities, how do they come about, what is the likely outcome? What services do natural communities provide and how can a better understanding of these services translate to more effective protection of natural habitat? Finally, are there sustainable means of extracting resources without harming community function and structure? Tropical Diversity tackles the centuries-old problem of why the tropics are so diverse. Theoretical arguments are developed with the idea that few are mutually exclusive and we may need to invoke multiple ideas to understand the answer fully. Along with theory, students are exposed different major taxa (plants, fungi, birds, insects, mammals, etc.), their ecology, geographical range and systematics. The conservation implications of great biodiversity are also considered: why are species going extinct, who is most likely to go, what happens when species invade and what conservation strategies are most effective in protecting biodiversity? Independent Study in Biology/Ecology is a unique chance to study some aspect of Tropical Ecology/Conservation more intensively. Each student explores an idea of their own choosing. The idea is put forth in a formal research proposal. A month is devoted to data collection. Finally, the results of the research are analyzed statistically and presented as both a symposium talk and in written form. The goal of this course not “to study what a tropical biologist does,” but to “become a tropical biologist.” Humans in the Tropics explores the way people live in the tropics. Students are presented with sociological and economic problems as well as environmental ones. They go out in the community to speak with local people touched by these problems and later discuss their experiences. Spanish language instruction is provided by the Centro Panamericano de Idiomas. The student-teacher ratio is 4:1 and the curriculum is designed to accommodate biology, ecology and conservation-related themes. Progress was made to improve the academic quality of all courses this past semester. All courses now have readers with relevant and up-to-date literature. Lectures were improved as were activities related to the different themes. 3. Student profile The Spring 2002 group consisted of 27 students from 14 colleges and universities. There were 9 men and 18 women. The majority were juniors, all in biology-related studies. 4. Homestays Homestay placement is provided by the Centro Panamericano de Idiomas. The students live with families for one month, about a third of the program. Students choose between rural families or those living in one of the several small towns that comprise Monteverde. Students are placed as far away as six kilometers. Transportation can sometimes become an issue, but students are happy to take the milk truck or other forms of “public transportation.” This semester, we had minor problems with homestay placement. Several students required moving, mostly to be closer to field sites. 5. Communication Because the students and staff literally live together most of the time, communication on site is not an issue. International communication is largely through Internet and a shared phone line. This allows students e-mail and registration access, and students are able to search and download many articles for their independent projects. 6. Cooperation between Institutions We work well with our partner, the Centro Panamericano de Idiomas. They are very professional, provide a very personalized form of Spanish language instruction and are receptive to our special needs for homestay placements. 7. Partnership with University of Massachusetts – Boston Rob Stephenson at the University of Massachusetts-Boston has selected the CIEE Monteverde program to implement a National Science Foundation grant. The grant is to develop a computer-based identification system, inventory and biological data repository for Monteverde’s diverse flora and fauna. The primary benefit would be to researchers and students. The CIEE Monteverde program has already received the gift of a Dell computer, Ethernet hub with cables, software and two high-quality digital cameras to assist this project. With the help of an intern from Germany, we were able to rig an intranet to share photos and information on different species the students will need to know. 8. Plant taxonomy handbook finished After two years of collecting information and formatting, the CIEE plant taxonomy handbook was finally finished. Students from the Fall 2002 helped with trials and suggested changes. The recipients will be the students on Spring 2003.