Learn about the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology's winter session in Costa Rica. The program combines field-based data collection, analysis of tropical biodiversity metrics, and discussions of the most controversial issues in conservation biology. You will be trained in standardized bird point counts and camera trap usage to measure avian and mammalian biodiversity at two premiere Biological Research Stations Costa Rica. You'll study the ecological and evolutionary causes of the extraordinarily high levels of biodiversity in Central America, the ways in which such diversity benefits humans, and the history and politics of conservation, preservation, and restoration projects in the region. Traditional lecture and discussion format is supplemented with daily hands-on projects, extensive walks, and hikes, some of which are physically demanding! You will live and eat at research facilities used by some of the world's leading tropical biologists and interact with several of them in informal guest lectures. You will also witness an unimaginable diversity of insects, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians!