Day One

Well, we made it safely... as always, getting here makes for a loooooong day... in my case, that meant leaving home at 1am, getting to the airport at 4, dealing with a baggage debacle for a while, getting our eventual flight at 7:30, and finally landing around 11 (CR time).  There's a reason we usually don't plan many "activities" for the first day. 

Everybody did get their first intro to Costa Rican food though, which is always a highlight.  This one will be short, as as the moment we're packing up to head off to our first "site", in Guanacaste up in the Pacific northwest of the country.  You may actually not hear from us about it for a day or two... rumor has it that internet there is down at the moment.  That's one of the catches of working in parts of the world where sometimes an opossum chewing on the line can knock out power to a significant part of the country.  See you soon...

- Dennis

Costa Rica!!!

I can't believe that the time has come for us to go to Costa Rica. I can not put into words how excited I am for this experience. The thing that I'm the most excited about is being able to experience another culture and of course being able to see the beauty that these rain forests have to offer. I love animals and I'm excited to see animals that I have only ever seen in pictures! I've been waiting for this trip for a long time and I'm so excited that its finally here! Costa Rica here we come!!!!

Melinda Metzger 

 

So today is exactly one week away before I leave for Costa Rica. I have been packing like crazy and my luggage is already over flowing!! The rain forest in Costa Rica has many different animals and I am really nervous to see a snake just roaming around. Here in Connecticut we do not really see that unless it is a little garden snake. I have been packing tons of long pants so hopefully one does not crawl up my leg. As i am looking forward to exploring the rain forest I am really look forward to be going zip lining! Zip lining is something that i have seen people do on TV and I never thought i was going to be able to get the chance to do it in the RAIN FOREST! pretty awesome, i know!

Another thing that I cannot wait to see are all of the different flowers in Costa Rica! Wasko said that one thing we will be getting to do on this trip is to go to an orchid flower farm. Besides sunflowers, orchids are my favorite flowers and I cannot wait to see them growing in the wild! My job on this trip will be to look at all the plants inside and outside of the rainforest so I will make sure to keep everyone posted on all the beautiful flowers, plants and trees I see out in Costa Rica! 

Carolyn Nowak

For the trip I think I am mostly excited just to travel outside of the country. I rarely travel and if I do it is not very far. I'm also looking forward to all the areas we will be exploring and I know I will come back with great memories.

-Nina Germain

Danielle Pelletier - Blog Entry 1

My class will leave on the tenth for Costa Rica and I am very excited. To be honest, I am looking forward to getting there but not even remotely about the journey prior (slight fear of planes). However, it is a small price to pay for an opportunity I may never come across again. My family used to travel often, but being the youngest of five, I was far too young to remember the trips we went on. I am looking forward to traveling out of the country at an age in which I can enjoy the trip in it's entirety. I'm curious and beyond thrilled to see and experience things that I never have before. Monday could not come fast enough.

Danielle Pelletier

(no subject)

 With in a little over a week to I head off to Costa Rica, my excitement grows more and more with each passing day.  I have just returned from Zion National Park, where I saw tremendous amount of wild life such as Mount goats, elk, lizards, snakes exc.  Seeing all that wildlife I can only imagine how much wildlife I will see in Costa Rica (one of the things I am most excited for.) Though with only spending 10 days in Costa Rica I feel time is going to fly by way too fast, not giving us enough time to explore this magnificent country.  Although our time will be short I am sure we will see lots giving all of us a life changing experience.  See you all soon bright and early.

Emily Martoglio 

 

costa rica blog tropical ecology

I am very exited about the course and traveling to Costa Rica to experience the wildlife in the rain forest. The other day I watching Animal Planet and they had an episode about the jaguars in Costa Rica it was very interesting. So I am wondering If we are going to come across these beautiful but dangerous animals.

Nicholas Oliver

Hello again! 

We've been on a bit of a hiatus, but I'm thrilled that Tropical Ecology is back on for 2013.  We depart in a little over a week, which means it's time for both the stress and excitement to start building.  I'll be remaining for a few weeks after the course to do some research, so there's a solid month of travel to prep for. 

A bit of a change in personnel this year too... there's a new group of students, of course.  They seem like a really great bunch of people, I'm looking forward to getting to know everybody a little better and share some of my experiences.  But this is also the first time I'm running the course without co-coordinator Susan Letcher, who has settled into a well-deserved professorin' gig at SUNY's Purchase College.  It definitely won't' be the same without her, and it's no exaggeration to say that this course would have never gotten off the ground in the first place without her.  On the other hand, I'm thrilled to be working with Alex Gilman instead.  Much like Susan, I know Alex well from my own time living in Costa Rica.  She's a terrific scientist and will certainly be a great person to travel around with.

Stay tuned for further updates as we go!


Dennis Wasko
30 May 2013

(no subject)

Wow. Did you read about the invasion of the cicada’s in the Northeast!? After 17 years they are back again to mate and be loud and buzzing. If you live in the NE especially New York and New Jersey, be careful because if you step on these bugs, you will hear a gross crunchy sound. I hope we don’t see them in Costa Rica, and I wonder what happens if we do. That would be cool, but frightening.

-Michelle Drayer

(no subject)

 

 

Hey, I read today that a Volcano in Costa Rica was spewing a lot of ash and gas. Some residents and their animals had to leave their homes. I wonder if we will get to see this volcano on our trip.

 

Michelle Drayer