Tropical Biology Program in Panama
Tropical Biology Program in Panama |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| 2007/08 Program dates & meetings Informational Meeting—Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007, 12 Noon, 209 Eno Hall Application Deadline— Friday, October 19, 2007 Information meeting & Immunization meeting (with Helen Ackley, Health Services)—Friday, November 30, 2007, 12 noon, location to be announced. |
Tropical Biology Program to Panama The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology offers a 'Semester in the Field' in Panama for juniors interested in intensively studying the ecology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and conservation biology of the tropics. Over the years faculty and students alike have noted that learning both the principles and practice of ecology is best done via total immersion, especially when the setting is in the tropics. We have chosen Panama as one of our New World tropical sites in part because of its diversity of habitats. It is also home to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) which has field stations, dormitories, classrooms and scientists that can help make our program a success. STRI's website for our program contains background, logistical, and course information for students. The program entails students taking 4 courses in sequence. In 2008, the first is "Tropical Biology" taught by Dr. Yves Basset (STRI), is an intensive, three-week field course given at various sites in Panama. It examines the origins, maintenance, and major interactions among elements of the tropical-terrestrial biota. This course involves extensive travel and completion of many field projects. The second course is "Vertebrates Tropical Ecology" taught by Professor Martin Wikelski (an EEB professor) which provides an in-depth study of tropical birds and will meet the Department's internal organismal biology requirement. After Spring break, the third course "Pre-Columbian Peoples of Tropical America and Their Environments." It is taught by our STRI colleagues, Drs. Richard Cooke and Dolores Piperno, and allows students to fulfill the University's "Social Analysis (SA)" distribution requirement. The fourth is "Biology of Coral Reefs" taught by Stephen Pacala (EEB professor) focuses on the ecology and behavior of coral reef organisms and includes extensive daily work in the water. When students finish the 'in the field' part of the course they return to campus to write up their findings, present their work at a symposium, and work intensively on their junior paper. During this somewhat novel reading and exam period they live in University housing, but are responsible for their own meals. "Immersed in learning: Intense field work in Panama transforms student researchers," is a story in the Princeton Weekly Bulletin (05/19/03) by Steven Schultz, about students' experience in EEB's undergraduate Tropical Biology program. Below: View from Lake Gatun of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute located on Barro Colorado Island.  |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
© 2007 The Trustees of Princeton University Web page feedback: amyb 'at' Princeton [dot] edu | Last update: September 24, 2007 |
|