Bio 320 Winter Study in Costa Rica

Ursinus students have embarked on a biannual field study of the tropical ecosystems of Costa Rica. Accompanied by Biology faculty Robert Dawley and Ellen Dawley, they study four ecosystems in 18 days. Read about their research on diversity and natural history, ecological interaction and the evolutionary process, and their encounters with birds, bats, butterflies, monkeys and lizards, as well as colorful flora.

Biology 320 in Costa Rica Daily Newsletters:

December 29, 2012
Arriving in Palo Verde National Park

December 30, 2012 Morning
Dawn to dusk on the marsh in Palo Verde National Park – Hiking cliffs and encountering 2 species of monkeys.

December 30, 2012 Afternoon
A boat trip down the Rio Tempisque, in search of crocodiles and water birds, followed by an animal ID quiz.

December 31, 2012
After a 7-hour bus trip to Las Cruces at the opposite end of Costa Rica, the team captured bats.

January 1, 2013
Busy day at Wilson Botanical Garden, with students beginning their research projects.

January 2, 2013
Capturing, identifying and releasing tropical birds and butterflies in Las Cruces.

January 3, 2013
Members of the Bird Team capture birds in mist nets, measure their bill size, trace their wing, and weigh them before releasing them. This was the last night in Las Cruces.

January 4, 2013
Early morning travel to next stop, Osa Biodiversity Center to study ants and bats.

January 5, 2013
Tropical bird research, a butterfly capture (check out the beautiful blue morpho butterfly) and anteater spotting, all lead up to a relaxing break at the beach.

January 6, 2013
A morning butterfly hunt, a howler monkey spotting, and more bird analyzing.

January 7, 2013
Osa Biodiversity Center early morning animal spotting. Bat team crawls in tunnels to observe bats.

January 8, 2013
Last full day at OBC, early morning hike; spectacular view of Pacific Coast

January 9, 2013
Travel Day back to La Selva, arrived just in time to set up mist nets for the birds in the a.m.

January 10, 2013
Research teams pack on a full-day of work at La Selva, a famous center in tropical biology.

January 11, 2013
Plenty of rainforest animals seen on this last full day at La Selva. Researchers busily finish collecting and analyzing data.

January 12, 2013
Awaiting trip to the airport, students take a last view of La Selva species, including the poisonous eyelash viper.