Research mentors in Costa Rica

NAPIRE: Native American and Pacific Islander Research Experience at Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica Mentors needed between June 20th and August 3rd Application Deadline November 30, 2015

The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) is seeking Research Mentors
(ABD or PhD only) for the Native American and Pacific Islanders Research
Experience (NAPIRE) Program funded by the National Science Foundation's
Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NSF LSAMP) at the
Las Cruces Biological Station in Costa Rica. This is an exciting and
highly rewarding research internship program for minority undergraduate
students enrolled in accredited institutions in the United States and
Pacific Island Territories.

The goal of the NAPIRE Program is to facilitate a successful summer
research experience for Native American and Pacific Islander
undergraduate students and, therefore, strengthen their interest and
potential for pursuing careers in biology or environmental science. The
program seeks to provide a quality, safe environment where students are
motivated to learn scientific skills, such as:
- Critical thinking,
- Hypothesis building and testing,
- Research design and sampling,
- Statistical analysis skills, and
- Scientific writing and presentation.
Mentors will live at the Las Cruces Station where they will provide
personal, direct guidance in ecological research for one or two
(typically) undergraduate students. Mentors will guide students as they
work to develop an answerable research question, design their research
goals and data collection methods, analyze data, and interpret and
present results. In addition, mentors will also participate in
symposia, evaluations, and ethics discussions.

Mentors do not receive honoraria, but NSF funds their transportation to
and from Costa Rica, as well as room, board, station use, research
permits, in-country transportation, and needed equipment and supplies.
The Las Cruces Station offers excellent installations, logistics, and
other conditions for long-term research projects in forest ecology,
climate change, ecological restoration, habitat fragmentation, and other
similar studies.

NAPIRE Mentors are needed between June 20th and August 3rd, 2016.
Interested researchers should send a letter of interest and a short
summary (max 250 words) of potential student research project(s). This
summary will be used on the OTS website so that students can select
their preferred mentors/projects in their applications. For researchers
who have not previously served as mentors in the NAPIRE Program, please
also provide a copy of your curriculum vitae and a statement of
mentoring philosophy. To allow sufficient time for appropriate matches
between mentors and accepted students, please send this information by
no later than November 30th, 2015.

Applications should be sent electronically to Barbara Dugelby, Program
Coordinator, at barbara@dugelby.com.


Andrés Santana
Graduate Program Coordinator
Organization for Tropical Studies
San Pedro, Costa Rica. 676-2050
(506) 2524-0607 ext. 1511
Skype: andres.santana_otscro // twitter: @ots_tropicaledu
www.ots.ac.cr