BIOL165 - Field Studies in Tropical Biodiversity and Conservation

We will use the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG) in Costa Rica as a living laboratory and case study in how to effectively foster community based environmental stewardship of natural ecosystems. This is an immersion course that broadly covers four major themes including: 1, biodiversity; 2, conservation philosophies and practices; 3, primary ecosystems within the Costa Rican ACG and their major species composition; and 4, fundamentals of field ecology (terrestrial and marine) including the practice and implementation of the scientific method. Students will learn how to develop and conduct research experiments via field-based activities, and will gain familiarity with a diversity of terrestrial and marine organisms including insects, endemic and invasive species of terrestrial flora and megafauna, corals, algae, invertebrates, fish, sea turtles and marine mammals. Additional topics covered will include fundamentals of oceanography, ecological and evolutionary principles as applied to ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity, and environmental and management challenges of the Costa Rican ACG and tropical ecosystems globally. Application required through Penn Global: https://global.upenn.edu/pennabroad/pgs