La Suerte Biological Field School, located in Northeastern

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, is one of two field schools operated by the Maderas rainforest conservancy (the other being the Ometepe Biological Field School in Nicaragua). The site is situated in a

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

basin. It houses courses in

primatology Primatology is the scientific study of primates. It is a diverse Academic discipline, discipline at the boundary between mammalogy and anthropology, and researchers can be found in academic departments of anatomy, anthropology, biology, medici ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, and other courses related to the flora and fauna of Northeastern Costa Rica.

Location

This lowland

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

region remains one of the most biologically diverse in the worl

The area is home to thousands of plant and insect species as well as hundreds of species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The list of animals include three monkey species ( Panamanian white-faced capuchin, white-face capuchins, mantled howlers and

spiders Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species dive ...

pacas A paca is a member of the genus ''Cuniculus'' of ground-dwelling, herbivorous rodents in South and Central America. It is the only genus in the family Cuniculidae. Pacas are large rodents with dots and stripes on their sides, short ears, and ...

and aguotis, keel-billed toucans, white-crowned parrots, strawberry poison-dart frogs, eyelash vipers and green iguanas. The Research Station and surrounding forests and farm were purchased by the Molina family in 1987. The field station encompasses containing a wealth of habitats including primary and secondary forests, swamps, marshes and pasture. In addition, much of the property lies along the Rio La Suerte, a flowing river that empties into the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Tortuguero National Park Tortuguero National Park is a national park in the Limón Province of Costa Rica. It is situated within the Tortuguero Conservation Area of the northeastern part of the country. Despite its remote location, reachable only by airplane or boat, i ...

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Field School

{{Promotional tone, section, date=May 2023 Since it was established in 1993, La Suerte has attracted over 550 students from across the United States, Canada, Latin America, India and Japan to study tropical rainforest ecology and conservatio

The Field School offers broad undergraduate and graduate training in Neotropical field ecology. Classes are limited to around 22 students. With one senior faculty and three graduate teaching assistants per course, the small class size insures an optimal student to faculty ratio of 1 to 5. Courses include primate ecology and behavior, rainforest ecology,

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

. Designed to be "classrooms in nature", these hands-on courses get students into the field, designing and conducting individualized research projects. In previous years, students at La Suerte have chosen to study a wide range of topics such as positional and feeding behavior of

capuchin monkeys The capuchin monkeys () are New World monkeys of the subfamily Cebinae. They are readily identified as the "Street organ, organ grinder" monkey, and have been used in many movies and television shows. The range of capuchin monkeys includes some t ...

, plant diversity between artificial and natural forest gaps, inter- and intrasexual territoriality in northern jacanas, effects of ultraviolet radiation on leaf-breeding

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

eggs, activity patterns and diet in giant bala ants, and attitudes in the local community toward

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

. Additionally, several long-term research projects are on-going at La Suerte that include primate behavior, poison-dart frog territoriality, ant distribution and abundance, and bird-mediated plant succession in pastures. Over 30 students who have taken our courses have continued on to graduate training in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, primatology and ecology. Students in each class conduct supervised but individual research projects. In some cases, the quality of these projects has resulted in their presentation at national scientific meetings. Graduate students are often hired as teaching faculty to assist in our field course

Primate Field School

The conservancy runs a primate field school at La Suerte which has such courses as "Primate Behavior and Ecology", "Advanced Primate Behavior and Ecology", and "Primate Conservation". The courses center on the two native primate species of the area: white-faced capuchin monkeys (''

Cebus capucinus The Colombian white-faced capuchin (''Cebus capucinus''), also known as the Colombian white-headed capuchin or Colombian white-throated capuchin, is a medium-sized New World monkey of the family Cebidae, subfamily Cebinae. It is native to the ext ...

'') and Mantled Black Howler Monkeys (''

Alouatta palliata The mantled howler (''Alouatta palliata'') is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central and South America. It is one of the monkey species most often seen and heard in the wild in Central America. It takes its "mantled ...

''). Daily lectures cover a variety of subjects in primatology. Students are divided into small groups to learn skills important to primate field research. Using the tropical rainforest of La Suerte as classrooms, students learn how to map a trail system; how to conduct vegetation sampling and analysis; methods of assessing food availability; and observation techniques to study the social, feeding, and ranging behavior of primates.

Independent Research Projects

After completing the field methods section of the class, students begin work on their own projects. Faculty members work closely with students as they undertake this portion of the course. First, each student develops a research proposal detailing the subject to be investigated and the methods to be used. Each student presents his or her proposal to the class. Next, each student must collect data for his or her project; data analysis follows. Finally, students write a final paper on their project and make an oral presentation to the class

Ecology Field School

Ecology is also offered at the field school. This offering is an intensive, nine-day field course. Through a total immersion in the tropical ecosystems we will be exploring, students will learn both the principles and practice of ecology. Students examine the biological and ecological processes that have developed and maintain the biodiversity of the tropical terrestrial biota. Students discuss issues of conservation, sustainable development and resource use, and the human impact on these fragile ecosystems. This course involves extensive field work and completion of field projects.

Neotropical Natural History Field School

Neotropical Natural History is a field course in the basic principles and methodologies of natural history studies in a tropical environment. Topics include climates and ecosystems, rainforest structure and diversity, evolutionary patterns, Coevolution, coevolutionary complexities and the ecology of fruit, the neotropical pharmacy, land use in the neotropics,

savannas A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

and dry forests,

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...

and coral reefs, and deforestation and conservation of biodiversity. Field and lab activities focus on amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Students study the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

and ecology of each of these faunal groups and develop skills in locating, observing, handling, and field identification of common neotropical specie

Other courses

Other courses at the field school include Comparative Anatomy and Function, Tropical Herpetology, and Photography

External links

Official Site of the Maderas Rainforest Conservancy

Official Site of the Field Schools

Primate Info Net entry
Environmental organizations based in Costa Rica Educational organizations based in Costa Rica Limón Province Environmental educational institutions