Summer 2013 Courses!

Application forms are now ready for our Summer 2013 courses. Application deadlines are in mid-March so start getting your application materials together soon!

 

Announcing our Summer 2013 courses!

Tree Field Studies is pleased to announce four new field courses for the coming Summer 2013 season!

- Tropical Entomology (Dr. Erica McAlister, Natural History Museum, London)

- Tropical Ornithology (Dr. Terry Master, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania)

- Introduction to Primate Behavior & Ecology (Dr. Lorna Joachim, University of New Mexico)

- Primate Conservation in the Tropics (TBA)

Please stay tuned for more details or check out the course pages above for more information.

Announcing NEW Winter Course in Herpetology!

Want to escape the cold weather? Join us in Costa Rica this winter for our Tropical Herpetology course from Dec 27th to Jan 12, 2013.

Spend your New Year’s Eve learning about reptiles and amphibians, with emphasis on species identification, field techniques, population ecology, and conservation biology.

To find out more, follow  the Tropical Herpetology course link at the top of the page.

Summer 2012 Courses

Summer 2012 Field courses

Application Deadline March 1, 2012!

Primate Behavior & Ecology in Costa Rica and Panama – June 9th – July 7th

• Study primate behavior in a tropical rainforest
• Practice your Spanish
• Learn to tree climb!

Primate Conservation in Tanzania – June 25th – July 19th (run in collaboration with University of Oregon Study Abroad)

• Learn primate & ecological census techniques
• Design interview-based research projects on local conservation issues
• Swahili 101
• Lion spotting on safari!

Check out the course pages for more detailed information. – Deadlines for application March 1st, 2012.

Successful Summer Abroad

We spent the summer in Tanzania and Costa Rica and had a great time. We received excellent feedback on both courses from our students and are looking forward to next summer already!

Here are some highlights from the Tanzania trip:

After a long bus ride from Dar es Salaam through the heart of Tanzania on a pretty posh mini bus, we arrived in Mang’ula at the foot of the Udzungwa Mountains. Despite the long drive, the students were very excited to have driven through Mikumi National Park – their first opportunity to spot elephants, giraffes, zebra and buffalo. We settled in quickly to life at the Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre and soon the students were learning to find and identify individual baboons, colobus and Sykes’ monkeys. Trips to the village to buy soda and snacks were an intense cultural experiment for some of them, but it wasn’t long before everyone was properly greeting their elders (“Shikamoo”) and asking for some ginger soda (Naomba Stony Tangawizi, tafadhali”). After two weeks of ecological techniques, monkey homework assignments and guest lectures from the National Park and Monitoring Centre, we deserved some R & R. So we headed back to Mikumi for a two day safari and lovely stay at Angalia Tented Camp. The highlight was definitely when we found two lionesses taking  a nap after a big giraffe meal, and the lunch with the crocodiles and zebra! The final week was spent planning and implementing community conservation interviews. We learned a lot about the conservation issues from the villagers point of view, so we thought the projects were a great success! To celebrate, we were off to Zanzibar. Lots of red colobus spotting, street fair meat and shopping, of course! All in all, it was a fantastic course with some excellent students and Nelson, David and I look forward to repeating the experience again next year.

-Gráinne

If you are interested in either of our courses for next summer, please let us know by filling out the Contact Us box on the right side of this page.

New Field Course in Tanzania, Summer 2011

Spots are still available for both our Primate Conservation (Tanzania) and Primate Behavior & Ecology (Costa Rica) Summer 2011 Courses!

 

Deadline extension for Tanzania – March 25th, 2011

Click here for course brochure. Follow the “Courses” link above for more detailed info on this course.

Primate Conservation Field Course, Summer 2011 is offered in collaboration with the University of Iowa Study Abroad program and will be taught by Dr. Nelson Ting, Primate Geneticist and Conservation Biologist from the University of Iowa.

This course will focus on the issues facing the conservation of primates in disturbed and threatened habitats, including an examination of the complex problems arising between primate habitats and neighboring human settlements, as well as deforestation and hunting. Students will observe numerous primate species including yellow baboons, Sykes monkeys, black and white colobus, as well as the endangered Sanje mangabey and Iringa red colobus, which are found only here in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. Throughout the course, students will learn techniques to observe wild primates and collect ecological and behavioral data, as well as basic conservation biology theory.

As community outreach and involvement is key to conservation, we believe it is important to attempt a basic understanding of local languages. As such, Swahili language classes will be held throughout the field course and student participation is required. In addition, a portion of the student tuition will be used to allow the participation of two local Tanzanian university students that share an interest in primate conservation.

For more information or if you have any interest in participating in this course, please email Grainne McCabe at grainne.mccabe.utsa@gmail.com

For more info about the course and/or the Udzungwa Mountains check out these links:

DNApes blog

Udzungwa Mountains National Park

Udzungwa Ecological Monitoring Centre

Mangabey Madness Blog – Sanje Mangabeys of the Udzungwa Mountains