IRES: International Research Experiences for Graduate Students in Tropical Ecology in Costa Rica

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In this IRES project supported by the Office of International Science and Engineering, Elizabeth Losos and colleagues will establish an international research-experience program for fifteen U.S. graduate students at the Palo Verde Biological Station in Costa Rica. This station, located within Palo Verde National Park in northwest Costa Rica, protects a significant portion of the Tempisque River Basin. Each year for the three-year life of this project, five U.S. students in the early stages of their graduate careers will be selected on a competitive basis from educational institutions throughout the United States. They will spend 10 weeks during the summer working with scientists from the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) on research projects in tropical biology, such as wetlands restoration, flood control, water usage, and reducing negative agricultural impacts on the region.This IRES activity should develop a cadre of tropical researchers with international experience and connections. The U.S. graduate students, drawn from groups traditionally underrepresented in science, are at a formative phase in their careers, when they are still developing their research skills and defining their research direction and questions. This IRES project will allow OTS to offer an international, collaborative research opportunity to U.S. students at a point in their education when such international mentorship and professional relationships can have the greatest impact on the selection of research questions, research design, study systems, and study locations. The work with local farmers, technicians, and extension agents has the potential to have a dramatic impact on the entire local community as well as on a wider audience.