Dear colleagues and graduate students, Below is a brief description of OTS 2-week Graduate Specialty Courses, which are upcoming graduate-level specialty courses (2 semester credits) which will be taught in Costa Rica, May-August, 2013. This course may be of interest to students in various departments and interdisciplinary programs, as courses relate to anthropology, geography, environmental studies, sociology, and ecology and conservation biology.
All courses currently have OPEN enrollment. For more information please consult the OTS website www.ots.ac.cr or write to me (Andrés Santana [email protected]) or Barbara Lewis [email protected] for application information. -- BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION THROUGH THE LENS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES http://www.ots.ac.cr/images/downloads/education/graduate/specialty- courses/indigenouspeoples13.pdf This course offers a unique opportunity to examine the theory and practice of conservation projects within indigenous territories and with indigenous cultures, through an interdisciplinary and hands-on field approach. Conservation priorities may not always coincide with the priorities of indigenous communities. However, for those indigenous peoples who have successfully retained their lands and continue to live in regions of medium to high biodiversity, these priorities could potentially coincide in large part. This two week course, directed towards graduate students interested in biological conservation projects that overlap with indigenous territories, focuses on the issues faced by conservation leaders who wish to develop projects within indigenous lands. These projects represent increasing challenges when considered in the framework of technological, economic and social changes. ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF NEOTROPICAL RIVERS http://www.ots.ac.cr/images/downloads/education/graduate/specialty- courses/neotropicalrivers.pdf This course is an intensive two-week course designed for graduate students and early career conservation scientists from U.S. and Latin American institutions. The Las Cruces and La Selva Biological Stations in Costa Rica will be the main sites for the course, with field trips to select places (hydropower dams, agricultural plantations, geo-thermal springs) in the surrounding river basins. The regions of Costa Rica near Las Cruces and La Selva offer the opportunity to observe diverse river types and aquatic biota along elevational and longitudinal riverine gradients, and experience firsthand many of the challenges for conservation and management of tropical rivers. AQUATIC ENTOMOLOGY http://www.ots.ac.cr/images/downloads/education/graduate/specialty- courses/aquaticentomology13.pdf This two week course is oriented towards advanced undergraduate and graduate students interested in intense training in the collection, identification and inquiry-based research of aquatic insects. The study of aquatic insects is not only fascinating, but ecologically and economically significant because many individuals play important roles in the flow of energy and the cycling of nutrients through ecosystems. Other aquatic insects (such as mosquitoes) are important vectors of many different diseases such as malaria and dengue. Emphasis of the field component of the course will be Neotropical species diversity, as revealed by a wide array of sampling methods. Students will gain experience in light trapping and use of various aquatic nets and other collection techniques. AMPHIBIAN DECLINE AND GLOBAL CHANGES IN THE NEOTROPICS http://www.ots.ac.cr/images/downloads/education/graduate/specialty- courses/amphibiandecline13.pdf This course will present students with a variety of topics relevant to amphibian decline and amphibian conservation. Each topic will be covered in lectures, techniques (through pratical hands-on training modules), and discussion sessions. The latter will facilitate interchange of ideas from students with diverse backgrounds. Field components of the course will be taught during a 9-day stay at La Selva Biological Station. Laboratory components of the course will be carried out at the Universidad de Costa Rica and Universidad Nacional during an 8 day stay in San Jose.
