My name is LaRoy Brandt and I teach a 4-week, summer Rainforest Ecology Course at the LaSuerte Biological Field Station from mid june to mid- July. Although I made an announcement for this course last fall, I thought I would send it out again as application for enrollment has begun.
In this course, I will do my best to accommodate as many areas of interest and backgrounds as well as differing levels of experience as I can. Although my summer 2009 course focused on Tropical Insect Ecology, we are modifying the course slightly to attract a broader audience. The course will be more of a general tropical ecology course that allows students to focus on a topic or taxonomic group of their choosing. I will do my best to customize and focus the curriculum to best meet students interests. The first two weeks of the course, with time spent mainly in thefield but with some time in the classroom, will focus on learning about the local flora and fauna, biogeography, plate tectonics, and numerous other topics related to the field study of tropical biology in Central America. We will also spend some time learning various field techniques in ecological data collection. The second two weeks will be spent conducting projects focused on individual student interests. So, although my expertise is more related to insects, I would be there to help mentor anyone in doing a project of his/her choice. This would be a great opportunity for all to study tropical ecology of any organism found in a Costa Rican rainforest. If you would like more information concerning this course, I would be happy to send a digital copy of our advertisement and answer any questions you might have via email [email protected], but you can also check out the website LaSuerte.org. Looking forward to any and all inquiries. LaRoy Brandt
