Category — Earth Expeditions

The Costa Rica Earth Expeditions trip was fantastic! It’s amazing just how diverse the habitats and species are in this relatively small country. We spent time in the lowland tropical rainforest at the La Selva Biological Station, where it was super hot and humid, and also spent time in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, which was much cooler at the higher elevation. Much of the trip consisted of hiking and seeking out all that there was to see and learn about neotropical ecology. Since the course is about learning through inquiry, our great group of educators conducted original investigations on everything from leaf-cutter ant and hummingbird behavior to epiphyte diversity. We had some great discussions about the region and community-based conservation and even planted trees as part of a reforestation project at the Cloud Forest School. Below are just a few of the many pictures I took on the trip.

The Zoo partners with Miami University’s Project Dragonfly to offer international Earth Expeditions graduate courses. I’ve been fortunate to be an instructor of several courses over the years in Belize, Namibia, and Kenya. These courses provide firsthand experiences for formal and informal educators with inquiry-driven, community-based learning and conservation.

This year I’m co-leading the course to Costa Rica. Focused on Neotropical ecology, we’ll be exploring and investigating the biodiversity of lowland rainforest and cloud forest. It will be my first true rainforest experience and trip to Costa Rica and I couldn’t be any more excited. [Read more →]