The year 2025 is packed with a lot of amazing graduate-level courses to be held all across Costa Rica. We started the year with the two-week Tropical Ferns and Lycophytes (TFL) course, one of an OTS favorite, led by Eddie Watkins (Colgate University) and Alejandra Vasco (Botanical Research Institute of Texas). At the same time, we started Ecología Tropical y Conservación (ETC), led by Edgardo Arévalo and Ignacio Escalante. ETC is at La Selva at the time of this publication and will continue in Costa Rica until late February.
TFL and ETC are/were each operating with a full class of 20 students. We want to keep that same pace in the rest of the courses we will offer this year.
Please find below the courses with open applications.
Tropical Biology: An Ecological Approach (7 grad credits – English)
Coordinators: Edgardo Arévalo & Jess Murray
The course that started it all! For almost 60 years, this OTS course has trained ecologists and evolutionary biologists using an active learning approach, which engages students in a fun and fast-paced research environment.
This OTS “fundamentals course” is an intensive, field-based experience in tropical biology for graduate students. With guidance from expert scientists, students will gain experience in critical thinking, research design, data analysis, analytical tools, science communication, ecological modeling, and collaborative research—all in the beautiful tropical setting of Costa Rica.
Sistemática de Plantas Tropicales (6 créditos – Español)
Coordinadores: Álvaro Idárraga (Herbario Jardín Botánico de Medellín) & Mauricio Bonifacino (Universidad de la República-Uruguay)
Sistemática de Plantas Tropicales es un curso de campo intensivo de posgrado centrado en la identificación, inventario, clasificación y análisis filogenético de plantas vasculares tropicales. Todas las actividades se llevan a cabo en Costa Rica durante cinco semanas, tiempo durante el cual el curso se realizará en estaciones de investigación y reservas naturales.
Este curso no está dirigido únicamente a botánicos que trabajen en sistemática. Alentamos a los estudiantes de otras disciplinas (como agronomía, ecología y biología de la conservación), cuya investigación requiere un alto grado de conocimiento de la clasificación e identificación de plantas tropicales, para postularse.
Inquiry in the Rainforest: A Field Course for Science Teachers (English)
Coordinator: Joe Levine
Joe Levine is the author of one of the most used Biology textbooks in U.S. high schools and is directed toward high school science teachers or university students who are planning on pursuing a career in high school teaching. You will learn from the field how science can be implemented in a more dynamic way, how to make (and keep) students interested, and how you can become creative with your own projects and classes. The course uses, as a central backbone, a direct experience of participants in field projects, field workshops on basic science, and a focus on science communication as an approach to teaching. On the way, you will also get to know Costa Rican environments and OTS’ most famous research station, La Selva, and other popular destinations in the country.
For more information on any of these courses, please contact Pablo Muñoz.