Santa Clara University

Field Course in Rainforest Ecology and Primate Behavior

Program Summary: The Costa Rica summer program offers a small cohort of students the opportunity to experience the biodiversity of a Costa Rica tropical rainforest. Students enroll in two courses taught by Santa Clara University instructor Michelle Bezanson (Anthropology). Upon successful completion of the course requirements they will receive a total of 10 units of credit. Students have one week of pre-field instruction at Santa Clara then spend three weeks at a La Suerte Biological Field Station gaining hands-on experience in community ecology and animal behavior.

Course Offerings: All students in the Costa Rica Summer Abroad program will enroll in two courses. The two courses are complementary. Typical days will involve fieldwork (e.g. hiking, data collection) and afternoon lectures/ discussions. The final week of the course will take place at SCU and emphasizes data interpretation and presentation:

ANTH 197: Field Course: Primate Behavioral Ecology
Instructor: Professor Michelle Bezanson
In this course we emphasize on-site anthropological field research with practical experience in the basic techniques of observation and field data analysis. Lectures emphasize core theoretical concepts in primatological research with examples from field studies of New World primates. Each student conducts independent data collection to produce a completed scientific paper where they are the sole author.  They can use these results to present in classes, at a conference or research symposium, or to develop future projects.  Great projects can be developed into publications to submit to peer-reviewed journals.  Finally, each student learns about themselves and their role in the community.  First, they are immersed within a new academic community where they establish lasting relationships with future colleagues.  Second, they learn about the importance of the local community and how our role in research is not restricted to the academic community or our study subjects.

ENVS 134: Plant Ecology in the Tropics
Instructor: tbd
This course is primarily focused on plant community ecology; including instruction in evolution, systematics, biogeography, plant defense, and pollination/dispersal syndromes… it just happens to incorporate some field work in tropical rainforest.  Because the course has both a Californian (mediterranean-type climate) and Costa Rican (pre-montane rainforest) component, labs will compare the community ecology and diversity of similar landscapes in each region.  Extensive training in field methods will prepare students for these labs and the development of each student’s proposal for final projects.  After this course students should have a basic ability to distinguish members of major plant families, an understanding of the biogeographic and ecological forces that influence plant communities and practical experience in plant field ecological methods and the development of testable hypotheses.

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