Costa Rica, Monteverde
http://ciee.org
Apply early. Students are accepted on a first come first serve basis.
This intensive laboratory science program offers students the opportunity to live, study, and conduct research in an ecologically diverse environment with a community of professional scientists. After an orientation in San Jose, students embark on an academic field trip exploring Costa Rica's different ecosystems, ranging from dry tropical forests to lowland rain forests. Upon returning, students are immersed in an intensive study period at the Biology Station of Monteverde. Toward the end of the program, students live with a local Costa Rican family and conduct individual research projects. Before final exams, students participate on another program-sponsored field trip.
Program participants are required to take all of the courses offered:
Tropical Diversity & Tropical Community Ecology, will satisfy upper level Biology electives.
Courses taken abroad may satisfy college and departmental core requirements. Students should consult with their advisor to discuss the specific requirements that may be satisfied abroad.
Monteverde is located in northwestern Costa Rica and is reached by a 40-kilometer winding dirt road off the Pan American Highway. The community lies at the crest of the Cordillera de Tilar‡n, along the continental divide. To the west are Pacific-facing slopes and the Nicoya Peninsula, which is seasonally dry. The crest of the mountainous ridge just above Monteverde is blanketed by a cool wet cloud forest. Verdant wet forest extends from the crest down into the Atlantic lowlands and provides a striking contrast to the deciduous forest on the Pacific side. Immediately east of the crest is the Pe–as Blancas Valley, a relatively unexplored expanse of tropical rain forest.
Founded in 1950 by North American Quakers, Monteverde is a small cooperative community known for its local dairy plant that makes some of Costa Rica's finest cheeses. Over time, Monteverde has grown into a socially mixed community that has attracted biologists, artists, and writers from around the globe. The nearby town of Santa Elena has its own high school, stores, and is the site of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
The Monteverde Institute is a nonprofit educational association initiated by the people of Monteverde to administer cultural, scientific, and educational programs and to share Monteverde's natural beauty and biological richness with the rest of the world.
For much of the program, students are housed in the Biology Station of Monteverde, which is bordered by a lovely primary forest. Men and women stay in separate four-person rooms with bunk beds. The field station also has a large classroom, small library, and laboratory work space. Meals are provided for the duration of the program. A cook prepares basic meals that are served in a large dining room. A cash allotment is made to each student during travel sufficient to cover simple meals at restaurants.
Towards the end of the program, students will move in with a local, rural Costa Rican family for a 26-day home-stay experience.
Full-time Northeastern student, 2.75 GPA, middler (third) year or above. Students must also have completed an introductory biology sequence and one of the following electives: Ecology, Evolution, or Behavior.
Applications are available at OISP, 10 BV.
$21,400 per Semester for the 2009/2010 academic year. Includes: tuition, housing, meals, orientation, course-related field trips, and round-trip airfare via Boston.
"The Monteverde program is such an incredible experience that its hard to put into words. I came away from the experience with so much: the adventure of a lifetime, a new found love and understanding of the forest, the ability to speak another language, unique relationships with fellow students, professors, and locals, and most of all, I came away from Monteverde with a new understanding of myself and the world around me. I can easily say that this experience changed my life for the better. Two thumbs up, I loved it."
Megan Dixon, Spring 2005
