The Field Notebook

An interesting part of this trip will be keeping a field notebook. Here is what it says on the syllabus:

“Students are required to keep a field notebook throughout the semester. Information recorded in the notebook should include observations from field trips, orientation walks, plant taxonomy exercises, etc. Students are strongly encouraged to personalize the field notebook by including observations of their own. Examples of observations that might be included are drawings and descriptions of interesting spiders; a list of birds or herps sited at each field station; climatic conditions, etc. Field notebooks are collected at the end of the course and graded based on completeness, neatness, and effort.”

In all of the excursions I’ve been on, my ‘notebook’ has always been my brain, or my camera. Neatness is not one of my strong points and I’m more the type to just sit back and let the experience wash over me rather than jot everything down. However, I am glad that this has been made a requirement. No doubt it will force me to pay attention to details more closely and, like this blog, it will help organize my memories of Costa Rica.

But I’m also glad because this will give me a chance to work on my drawing. I mostly do cartoonish and tattoo design work right now, but classes like these inspire me to work more on scientific/realistic. I love movement and anatomy, so hopefully I will be able to capture this with a pencil as well as with my camera… I would love to take pictures of my notebook and share it on this blog from time to time.

I’ve been practicing (kind of), because I know when I see that beautiful animal, it probably won’t be posing for me, but disappear in the wink of an eye. I need to work on speed, and stop focusing on tiny details when I’m drawing in the field. For now I have the luxury of Google Images, but soon that won’t be the case. I need to familiarize myself with the flora and fauna of Costa Rica while I still have Wikipedia at my disposal.

For now though, here are some examples of what I intend to do:

(above: spider monkey, below: yawning jaguar. Used references from google)

Minor Preparations

There is little I can do (or, being the college student that I am… there is little I feel compelled to do) with still a good number of days before Costa Rica. I will probably see this blog post the night before my flight and mentally slap myself. But it isn’t to say I have done nothing at all! I’ve just been to the doctors for a blood test to see if the Hep. A and B vaccines I had years ago is still present in my blood… Or something along those lines (my not-pre-med knowledge). I am wondering if it is necessary to take those extra precautions to prevent malaria or dengue… I’m not one to worry too much about diseases, but getting sick would definitely detract from my experience.

Also, I had some time in Barnes&Nobles today to browse through Costa Rica for Dummies. I’m fooling myself if I think I can become a Costa Rica expert and memorize the map of the country in just a few hours, especially because I can’t even memorize the map of my own country after living here for 18 years. I guess I read it mainly to get the most basic sense of their history and culture. And to be honest, not a lot of it rubbed off on me. I think it’s like getting your first dog… You can read all the books and talk to all the so-called experts, you can feel totally prepared for the challenge, but in the end there will still be things you could never have learned any other way except by trying it yourself. And if Costa Rica is anything like my first (and current) dog, it will be life changing in all the best ways. But this should go without saying, because I already know it will be amazing, just like the moment I walked up to the kennel cage and knew, “This is the one.”

A month away

Hello out there!

This is Tiff Shao, blogging for the first time. The Costa Rica program is only about a month away and I already know it’s going to be the highlight of my summer. I’m excited because this kind of experience… hands-on, in the field, utilizing all the senses… it is truly the best way to learn. They say the moment you become a scientist is the moment you ask a question and feel it, the feeling that tells you, "This is what I want to study for the rest of my life!" I’m not sure what my calling is yet, but I’ve felt it in Yellowstone, in Mexico, and even in the woods near my house. There is just something so intriguing about the world outside what we know. And I know I will feel it in Costa Rica. Maybe I’ll even find that question that will make me a scientist (no, a Wildlife Ecologist!), or perhaps I already am one.

Man, the 15^th of June seems so far away, but I know it will jump up on me. I try imagining what it will be like to be in Costa Rica, and all that seems to come up is a blast of rainbow colors. I can't wait to meet my peers and my professors. I can't wait to see all the different plants and animals and to experience such a different culture. I can't wait to enter that state of mind... when I'm inevitably covered in bug bites and possibly have blisters on my feet... it could possibly be raining... But I will smile and I will know, this is Pura Vida.

Course Description

Biology 134L Field Tropical Biology offers students the exciting opportunity to study first-hand the evolutionary ecology of important plant and animal taxa in tropical ecosystems. Course design emphasizes intensive field work and visits all three OTS field stations as well as other sites. Students are thus introduced to a great diversity of tropical habitats, each possessing distinctive biotas that in turn demonstrate unique evolutionary histories and ecological dynamics. As part of the course, students work closely with resident professors in the design, implementation, and interpretation of their own independent research project in field ecology. Independent projects allow students to learn science by doing science in a beautiful and challenging tropical setting. Results are presented orally following the protocol of a scientific meeting. Students also submit a formal research report which becomes part of the permanent records of OTS field stations.

The course concludes with a short unit on conservation biology, including the application of island biogeography to reserve design and management, as well as the impact of deforestation and fragmentation.