The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) will present a graduate level
specialty course May 21-June 5, 2011 entitled Conservation and Restoration
Genetics. This is an intensive, 16-day course aimed at providing ecologists,
biologists, geneticists, and students from similar disciplines with an
overview of conservation genetics and related issues. Course topics include:
measurement of genetic diversity, phylogeography, gene flow, mating systems
and effective population size estimates, and habitat fragmentation and
restoration. We will also discuss the cost-effectiveness of different
approaches and the integration of theory with experimental and field based
data.
Course faculty will include Drs. Jim Hamrick, University of Georgia; Paul
Leberg, University of Louisiana, Lafayette; and Eric Fuchs, University of
Costa Rica. Local experts will present invited lectures on conservation
issues in Costa Rica. The course will be located on the campus of the OTS
field station at Las Cruces, near the town of San Vito in southern Costa
Rica. The Las Cruces station is located within the Wilson Botanical Garden
at approximately 1300m (4000ft), and is surrounded by a highly fragmented
premontane wet forest. Tuition is $1500 for applicants from OTS consortium
institutions, and $2000 for non- consortium applicants. A grant from the
American Genetics Association will provide partial scholarships which will
be based on academic merit and proven financial needs. The deadline for
priority consideration is February 10, 2011. For further information,
contact Barbara Lewis ([email protected] [registration]), or Jim
Hamrick ([email protected] [course content]), or see the OTS website
at http://www.ots.ac.cr/.
