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

San José & field sites, Costa Rica

Mónica Retamosa

Areas of expertise

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

Degrees

  • B.S. in Biology, National University of Uruguay
  • M.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management, National University of Costa Rica
  • Ph.D. in Wildlife Science, Purdue University

Potential student research areas

  • GIS applications to biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning
  • Landscape effects on wildlife communities and populations
  • Spatial epidemiology of emergent diseases of birds and bats
  • Ecological restoration of highland natural forests of Costa Rica (monitoring, implications for conservation of biodiversity components and ecological functions) 
  • Comparative ecological functioning and conservation capacity of natural and reforested forests 
  • Land use and landscape structure change and its implications for conservation of biodiversity

Biography

Mónica Retamosa Izaguirre is a professor at the International Institute for Wildlife Conservation and Management (ICOMVIS) of the National University of Costa Rica.  She also coordinates the Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Lab of the Institute.  Mónica Retamosa teaches three master degree level courses at the ICOMVIS: Landscape Ecology, GIS and Remote Sensing for wildlife biologists, and Modeling Wildlife-Habitat Relationships.  She also is responsible for three projects: one extension project on building capacity on Remote Sensing and GIS applications to biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning to private and public conservation institutions of Costa Rica, and two research projects on the effects of landscape structure and management on wildlife populations (occurrence, density, and health) in northern Costa Rica).

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

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Pål Robson I consider my experience in Costa Rica as invaluable to my education. Not only did I learn a new language along with a different way of living, but I also got to develop my academic interests on a hands-on level that is unknown to any classroom pedagogy. I consider myself lucky to have spent a semester in Costa Rica with the ACM, and I am positive that the worldly perspectives I gained there will be with me as an asset both professionally and personally long after college is over.

—Pål Robson, Costa Rica, Spring 2009

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