danta field courses

Field Courses

Each year DANTA offers a number of field courses in various aspects of tropical biology. Typically, the courses are one month long but shorter courses are also offered through our organization. The courses are intended for undergraduates or early graduate level students who have a keen interest in tropical biology and conservation, but have little or no experience of working in a tropical environment.

Methods in Primate Behavior and Conservation

This two week course is designed to provide students with field experience in primate behavior, ecology, and conservation. Learning experiences fall into four main categories: field exercises, seminars, lectures, and applied conservation. The field exercises and seminars provide instruction and experience in:

1. Methods of measuring environmental variables, including assessment of resource availability,
2. methods of collecting and analyzing the behavior of free-ranging primates,
3. assessments of biodiversity and
4. techniques for estimating population size.

Lecture topics will cover the behavior and ecology of Old and New World primates from an evolutionary perspective. Selected lecture topics include primate sociality, feeding ecology, taxonomy, rain forest ecosystems and conservation. Service learning is a large component of all our programs. Students will gain experience in applied conservation through participation in Osa Conservation’s reforestation, sustainable agriculture and wildlife monitoring programs (big cat and sea turtle).

Download the course syllabus

Primate Behavior and Conservation

This course is designed to provide students with field experience in primate behavior, ecology, and conservation. Learning experiences fall into five main categories: field exercises, independent research, discussions, lectures and applied conservation. The first half of the courses is devoted to learning ecological field techniques, while in the second half students design, carry out and present data from their independent research projects. Many of our participants have gone on to present their work at national and regional conferences. The field exercises and seminars provide instruction and experience in:

1. methods of measuring environmental variables, including assessment of resource availability,
2. methods of collecting and analyzing the behavior of free-ranging primates,
3. assessments of biodiversity and
4. techniques for estimating population size.

Lecture topics will cover the behavior and ecology of Old and New World primates from an evolutionary perspective. Selected lecture topics include primate sociality, feeding ecology, taxonomy, rain forest ecosystems, conservation, climate change and sustainability. Participants gain experience in applied conservation through participation in Osa Conservation’s reforestation, and sea turtle breeding and monitoring programs.

Tropical Biology and Conservation

Wildlife Conservation and Sustainability

This course is designed to provide students with field experience, on a range of terrestrial surveying techniques, measuring bio-indicator species: mainly key predators and their prey and butterflies. Students will also gain a a better understanding on the principles of defaunation, sustainable development, and community management and its conservation related issues. The course includes four learning experiences categories: field exercises, seminars, lectures, and applied conservation.

The field exercises and seminars offer instruction and experience on direct and indirect methods of biodiversity data collection, management, and analysis, as well as GPS navigation and research project development. Direct methods include butterfly trapping while indirect methods comprise mammal tracking, or camera trapping. Lectures cover ecology and socio-economic and anthropogenic impacts related to selected bio-indicator groups in the Neotropics, with a particularly in the Osa Peninsula. Selected lecture topics include ecology, taxonomy, and conservation of medium-large vertebrates and butterflies, as well as effects of anthropogenic impacts on population dynamics or defaunation. Topics on community-based management, participatory methods, and socio-economic effects on both conservation and the development of sustainable livelihoods for local communities are also included. Students also gain experience in community outreach and education through involvement in an activity at the Piro Ranch involving Don Miguel Sanchez, one of the remaining few landowners in the area.

Conservation and Sustainability

Natural resource management by indigenous communities and smallholders has gained momentum as a viable strategy for conserving ecosystems while supporting local livelihoods and cultural values. This course examines how local people conserve their natural resources and their challenges in pursuing sustainability (i.e. maintaining ecological and environmental health, creating economic welfare, and seeking social justice). The course is designed to provide students with practical experience in a range of surveying techniques including terrestrial methods to measure bio-indicator species such as key predators, as well as social surveying methods and participatory management approaches to encourage community member participation and stakeholder involvement. Students will also gain a better understanding of the principles of ethnobotany, sustainable development, fair commerce, defaunation, and community-based management. The course includes four learning experience categories: field exercises, seminars, lectures, and applied conservation.

The field exercises and seminars offer instruction and experience on different methods of data collection, management, and analysis; for example, social and participatory approaches such as questionnaires, interviews, resource or social maps, timelines, and diagrams, as well as terrestrial surveying techniques including mammal tracking and camera trapping or GPS navigation. Lectures cover indigenous people’s culture, natural resource management, and socio-economic development, mainly focused on the Borucas Tribe, as well as ecology and socio-economic and anthropogenic impacts related to selected bio-indicator groups in this region of Costa Rica. Selected lecture topics include ecology, taxonomy, and conservation of medium-large vertebrates, as well as effects of anthropogenic impacts on population dynamics or defaunation. Topics on community-based management, participatory methods, and socioeconomic impact on both conservation and the development of sustainable livelihoods for local and indigenous communities are also included. Students also gain experience in community engagement, outreach, and education through activities at the Boruca Village such as the traditional mask painting workshop, the medicinal plant talk and walk, or folklore exhibition, as well as visiting Piro Ranch owned by Don Miguel Sanchez, one of the remaining few ranchers in the Osa Peninsula.

Download the course information packet.

Field Trips

All courses include a visit to a wildlife rehabilitation center, sustainable chocolate farm, and dolphin and snorkeling trip on the Golfo Dulce. We will visit the Boruca indigenous community where we will learn about the community and their traditional lifeways. Every effort is made to implement eco-friendly and socially responsible practices into our day-to-day operations, field course and overall mission.