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Costa Rica: Field Research in the Environment, Social Sciences, & Humanities

San José & field sites, Costa Rica

Local research advisors & potential areas of research

There are a wide variety of student research areas available in Costa Rica, across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.  These local advisors are an intergral part of the research process.  For more detailed information about potential student research areas and complete advisor biographies, click on the photo or name of each advisor below:

Nicolas Boeglin 

Areas of expertise:

International Environmental Law, International Watercourses Management, Human Rights and Environmental Law


Jorge Cortés

Areas of expertise:

Marine Biology, Coral Reef Ecology, Marine Biodiversity

Quince Duncan 

Areas of expertise:

Latin American Studies, Literature, Black History and Culture in Latin America, Human Rights issues, Natural and Homeopathic medicine

 

Paul Hanson 

Area of expertise:

Entomology

Hugo Hermelink 

Area of expertise:

Agricultural Economics

 

Ana Istarú

Area of expertise:

Theater and poetry

Michael McCoy Colton 

Areas of expertise:

Control of Agricultural Damage by Wildlife Species, Wetland Ecology and Rehabilitation, Tropical Dry Forest Ecology

 

Manuel Monestel 

Area of expertise:

Sociology, Music

Javier Monge Meza

Areas of expertise:
Vertebrate pest management, Ecology of rodents

 

Julián Monge-Nájera

Areas of expertise:
Ecology and Evolutionary Psychology

Mónica Retamosa 

Areas of expertise:

Wildlife Ecology and Management, Landscape Ecology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Applications to Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Planning
 

Bernal Rodríguez Herrera

Area of expertise:

Mammal ecology


Carlos Manuel Rodriguez

Areas of expertise:

Law and Environmental Policy, Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change, Financial Mechanisms, Sustainability


 

Rafael Ocampo Sánchez 

Areas of expertise:

Ethnobotany on useful plants, Domestication of medicinal plants

Claudine Sierra 

Areas of expertise:

Community Based Conservation, Introduced Species, Sustainable Tourism, Protected Areas Management, Yoga

 

Manuel Spínola 

Areas of expertise:

Widlife Ecology & Conservation, Environmental Study Design & Data Analysis, Statistical Ecology, Mammal Ecology, Carnivore Ecology, Wildlife-Habitat Relationships, Habitat Evaluation, Biodiversity Monitoring

Monika Springer 

Areas of expertise:

Aquatic Ecology & Entomology, Aquatic Biomonitoring & Conservation

 

Freddy Ulate

Areas of expertise:

Child health issues and children's issues related to human rights

Christopher Vaughan 

Areas of expertise:

Wildlife, Wildlands & Ecosystem Management

     

 

Costa Rica: Field Research in the Environment, Social Sciences, & Humanities

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Lacey Ramirez My ACM Field Research experience in Costa Rica was amazing and unforgettable! I will always appreciate and love the personal relationships I developed with people in the program and the host families. Additionally, this program gave me the invaluable opportunity for professional growth in both a foreign language and independent research. Costa Rica is not only amazingly beautiful and ecologically diverse, but it also has an amazing history and culture. I wish I could go back and study there all over again!

—Lacey Ramirez, Costa Rica, Spring 2004

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