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![]() For students in the Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS) Undergraduate Programs in Costa Rica, a day at school is hardly a routine college experience. Students might wake up to the chattering of capuchin monkeys, or watch
The OTS summer program, a collaborative program with Duke University, gives students from a wide array of colleges and universities a chance for a deep, hands-on exploration of tropical biology. The America's Program, a division of NSF's International Program provides funding for approximately one third of the program participants. The NSF funding is targeted specifically toward students from economically disadvantaged and underrepresented populations, providing assistance with travel, subsistence, and other expenses, with a goal of broadening the number and
Students in the OTS Duke University course start with week-long visits to a series of biological field stations, in strikingly varied environments, throughout the Central American nation, including the Palo Verde Research Station, in northwest Costa Rica, rich with wetlands and seasonal dry forests, and the LaSelva Biological Station, one of the world's leading centers for research on tropical rainforest ecology. (Students are also oriented to the realities of tropical research -- learning, for instance, about the need to develop profound respect for the habits of venomous snakes.) Field research lies at the core of the OTS summer program. With advice and assistance from faculty, students design and carry out their own short research projects. These projects expose the students to sampling techniques, experimental design, hypothesis testing, data analysis and presentation of results. In the past, student research projects have focused on phenomena ranging from hummingbird behavior to ecological comparisons of deep forest interior areas and forest edges.
Costa Rica's varied ecosystems represent an enormous, and exciting biological challenge in terms of simply discovering what species are present, was well as how they interact ecologically. At present, scientists have identified and named only about 17 percent of the estimated species. (Most of those still not yet identified are invertebrates, most notably the arthropods -- insects, mites, and spiders. NSF is also co-funding a detailed survey of the arthropods of the lowland tropical rainforest at LaSelva.) The Organization for Tropical Studies is a nonprofit consortium of more than 55 universities and research centers from both the United States and Costa Rica. Its goal is to provide leadership in education, research, and responsible use of natural resources in the tropics.
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