Interesante oportunidad en Costa Rica

The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) is looking for Research
Mentors for the Native American and Pacific Islander Research Experience
(NAPIRE) Program at Las Cruces Biological Station in Costa Rica. The
NAPIRE Program introduces Native American and Pacific Islander
undergraduate students to the biodiversity of the tropics. As part of the
program, students complete a research project in collaboration with a
research mentor. Students also participate in lectures, seminars and field
activities to learn tropical ecology and conservation. Two faculty
coordinators lead the program.

Research Mentors are assigned 1-2 students to provide guidance and support
through all stages of the research project. Mentors also provide
introductory lectures, or lead a field activity, as part o the academic
program. Toward the end of the program, mentors supervise the analysis,
write up and final presentation of the students' research results.

The program is based at the Las Cruces Biological Station, a mid-elevation
site on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coastal range. Las Cruces provides
excellent opportunities for research in diverse areas of tropical biology,
including conservation, fragmentation biology and restoration ecology. The
station encompasses 250 hectares of premontane rain forest, 8 hectares of
cultivated collections and 4 hectares of fallow and experimental plots.
The region surrounding Las Cruces has extensive patches of forest
fragments, including a chain of forest remnants extending 8 km to the
Guaymi Indian Reservation.

The program begins on June 2 and ends on July 28, 2008. The first 3 weeks
of the program include an orientation at Las Cruces and travel to other
sites in Costa Rica. Mentors must be at Las Cruces no later than June 23
to begin working with the students on their independent projects. In
addition mentors should plan on staying at Las Cruces until the program
end date. Mentors do not receive honoraria, but will receive up to 8-9
weeks of station fees plus airfare. REU students will have all their
expenses covered by the program as well as a budget for lab and field
equipment.

Interested researchers should send a letter of interest and mentoring
philosophy, curriculum vitae and a short summary (no more than 300 words)
of potential student research projects. To be eligible, candidates must
have completed their PhD. Deadline for application is November 15, 2007.
Inquiries and applications may be sent electronically to the program
coordinators, Dr. Doug Eifler (deifler@erellinstitute.org ) and M.Sc.
Marcela Fernández-Vargas (mf976@umsl.edu)

To learn more about the NAPIRE program and the OTS, you may visit our
website at:
http://www.ots.duke.edu/en/education/reu_napire.shtml