Enrollment for all three of Field Projects International’s winter courses ends November 18th, or once classes are filled. The deadline to apply for a scholarship to attend is October 31st.
As a non-profit organization focused on science education, Field Projects International is committed to providing field biology training and ecological literacy to students of all backgrounds. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Course 1: VERTEBRATE FIELD BIOLOGY Dates: December 27th, 2016 – January 8th, 2017 This course explores vertebrate field biology by offering participants their choice of two out of three elective modules: primatology, herpetology, and ornithology. Within each module, experts from the corresponding field of study will lead daily activities that explore natural history, research methodologies, and ongoing conservation issues. Evenings will include lectures and discussions of scientific articles. Examples of Activities: - Forest navigation and orienteering on and off trail - Maintaining field notebooks - Deploying and monitoring motion-sensing camera traps - Mist netting and bird censusing - Primate follows and behavioral sampling - Field identification and conservation strategies for reptiles and amphibians - Operating radio telemetry equipment - Safely ascending emergent trees Location: This course will be held at the Los Amigos Biological Station in Peru. Cost: $2000 (includes hostel stay on first and last nights, round-trip travel to the field station from arrival city, a bed in the field station’s bunkhouse, and all meals while at the field station) Learn more and enroll: https://fieldprojects.org/participate/courses-2/vertebrate-biology Scholarship information: https://fieldprojects.org/participate/courses-2/scholarships ----------------------------------------------------------------- Course 2: PRIMATES AND PREDATORS Dates: December 28th, 2016 – January 10th, 2017 This is a unique course in tropical biology with special focus on primate and carnivore interaction, conservation strategies, and research methodologies. Participants will learn to identify, track, habituate, and collect non-invasive samples from elusive primate species, while also exploring the intersection between predators and prey by looking at carnivore hunting practices, predator avoidance behaviors in primates, and software simulations of predator-prey dynamics. Guided hands-on activities during the day train participants in a variety of skills, including: scat and hair snare monitoring, tree climbing, radio telemetry, camera trapping, plant identification, primate tracking, and behavioral sampling techniques. In the evenings, these exercises are supplemented with brief lectures and discussions of scientific literature related to the fields of herpetology, ornithology, entomology, and botany. Location: Fringe Ford in the Western Ghats of India. Cost: $2250 (includes hostel stay on first and last nights, round-trip travel to the field station from arrival city, a bed at the station, and all meals while at the field station) Learn more and enroll: https://fieldprojects.org/participate/courses-2/primates-and-predators Scholarship information: https://fieldprojects.org/participate/courses-2/scholarships ----------------------------------------------------------------- Course 3: TROPICAL ENTOMOLOGY Dates: December 27th, 2016 – January 8th, 2017 This course offers advanced training in the Peruvian Amazon for those interested in insect diversity, form, and ecological function, as well as field techniques that facilitate entomological research and conservation in the tropics. The course covers groups ranging from butterflies to beetles, bees, and aquatic insects, among others. Students will be introduced to an astonishing array of terrestrial and aquatic habitats that shelter a greater diversity of plant and animal species than anywhere else on the planet. Above all, participants learn by doing: we will spend most of our time studying actual insects in the field, from the tops of towering tropical trees to the bottom of oxbow lakes. Where: Los Amigos Biological Station in Southeastern Peru Cost: $2000 (includes hostel stay on first and last nights, round-trip travel to the field station from arrival city, a bed in the field station’s bunkhouse, and all meals while at the field station) Learn more and enroll: https://fieldprojects.org/participate/courses-2/tropical-entomology Scholarship information: https://fieldprojects.org/participate/courses-2/scholarships
