See also Traditional Graduate Courses To increase the diversity of graduate course offerings, OTS offers a series of specialty graduate courses. This year's series includes:
Tropical Butterfly Ecology Tropical Butterfly Ecology – will be a two week immersion for graduate students engaged in or planning field research on tropical Lepidoptera. The course draws upon the coordinator’s expertise and 30+ years of work on butterfly ecology and evolution in Central and South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Madagascar, China, Borneo and Australia. Based at La Selva in Costa Rica, topics will include field methods, ecology and evolution of butterfly-ant symbioses, behavioral ecology, mimicry, ecological physiology, quantitative natural history and future directions in this field. Coordinators:Phil DeVries, University of New Orleans, Bruce Walsh, University of Arizona, Isidro Chacón, Museo Nacional de Costa Rica & INBIO Course duration: May 14 - 28, 2010 Application Deadline: February 16, 2010 for priority admission, followed by rolling admission until fully enrolled. Details (  111 kb )
Application form (  135 kb ) Ecology of Plant-Animal-Interactions in the TropicsEcology of Plant-Animal-Interactions in the Tropics is an intensive two-week course designed to get hands-on experience on how to effectively perform research on biotic interactions between plants and animals. The main goal is to expose students to different types of biotic interactions, and to teach analytical skills and study methods to understand these interactions. Thereby we put particular emphasis on teaching methods to study ecological and evolutionary principles of the chemical ecology of plant-animal interactions. Chemical Ecology, the study of the chemical signalling involved in the interaction of living organisms, is of increasing scientific importance because of its high explanatory power in understanding multitrophic interactions and therefore became a focus of this course. Coordinator: Katja Poveda / Andre Kessler Course duration:6-18 January 2010 (arrive 5 January, depart 19 January) Application Deadline: 16 September 2009 for priority admission, followed by rolling admission until fully enrolled. Details ( 129 kb )
Application form ( 135 kb ) Inquiry in Rainforests: an in-service program for teachers This 14-day program puts into practice the philosophy that the best way to improve the teaching of science is to help teachers DO science - by conducting open-ended, inquiry-based research. The course begins with an introduction to tropical natural history, and continues with design and execution of field research projects, data analysis, and presentation of results. Centered at La Selva Biological Station in a lowland tropical rainforest and Ecolodge San Luis near the Monteverde Cloud Forest, the course includes discussions of tropical ecosystems and conservation, research projects focused on organisms and ecological concepts, and the development of teaching and assessment plans for participants to take home. The program is open to middle school and high school teachers, as well as graduate students preparing for careers in teaching. Preference is given to teachers early in their careers. CE and graduate credit are available. With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Organization for Tropical Studies will conduct a conduct a Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute (PASI) to introduce tropical ecologists from the Americas to recent developments in embedded sensor networks. Embedded Sensor Networks offer a powerful combination of distributed sensing capacity and open possibilities for countless applications in ecological research. The frontiers of ecology expand as biologists think of new applications and engineers develop the necessary tools to increase our understanding of how ecological systems work. Details ( 724 kb )
Application form ( 111 kb ) Biodiversity of True Bugs (Heteroptera)This two week course is oriented towards graduate students and post doctoral fellows interested in intense field training in the collection, identification and inquiry-based research on the Heteroptera or True Bugs, which are well represented in the highly diverse tropics. Field collection, lab identification, and hands-on research experience on Heteroptera will be complemented by a lecture series on their natural history and classification. This program will enhance participants’ abilities to work on the ecology and systematics of this megadiverse group that includes important disease vectors, crop pests, and natural enemies. The course will take place in wet forest habitat at the La Selva Biological Station, including if possible sections of the Barva transect, as well as in the dry forest habitat and wetlands surrounding the Palo Verde Biological Station. Coordinator:Dr. Christiane Weirauch, University of California, Riverside, Dr. Randall t. Schuh, American Museum of Natural History, New York Course duration: 8-22 August 2010 Application Deadline:March 10, 2010 for priority admission, followed by rolling admission until fully enrolled. Details ( 216 kb )
Application form ( 135 kb ) Ecology & Conservation of Neotropical RiversThis 2-week course is oriented towards graduate students and early career conservation scientists from both U.S.and Latin American institutions with interest in applied research on current conservation issues for Neotropical rivers. The course will be held at La Selva Biological Station, with field trips to the surrounding Sarapiquí River basin. This region offers opportunity to observe diverse river types and aquatic biota along elevational and longitudinal riverine gradients. Additionally, as in many parts of the tropics, rivers in the Sarapiqui basin are increasingly being altered as a consequence of human activities. Faculty: - Elizabeth P. Anderson, Florida International University, Miami
- Andrea C. Encalada, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador
- Mary C. Freeman, USGS and University of Georgia
- Catherine M. Pringle, University of Georgia
Course duration: May 8 – 22, 2011. ( Arrive May 7, depart May 23, 2011)
Application Deadline: 1st February 2011 for priority admission, followed by rolling admission until fully enrolled.
Please contact Barbara Lewis at: blewis @ ots.ac.cr for further information on these courses, including our simple application process. Since specialized course topics will not necessarily repeat, we do not want any student to miss the opportunity. OTS is beginning to work on new specialty courses for next year and we welcome your input. |
Educación 
31 kb ) 