Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS): Costa Rica - NAPIRE: Native American and Pacific Islander Research

The NAPIRE program introduces undergraduate students to scientific research by making them responsible for completing a research project. Students are supported to this end by giving them their basic living needs (travel, room and board), guidance by a Research Mentor, Home Mentor and OTS staff, a small budget for supplies, and a venue for presenting the Research results, the NAPIRE Symposium. All this takes place in Costa Rica, in the beautifully conserved biological stations of OTS.

As part of the program, students will complete a field project, including experimental design, data gathering, and analysis and presentation of results, in collaboration with fellow students and a research mentor. Students will experience the process of applying the scientific method to ecological inquiry and discovery in a collaborative and team-oriented environment. In addition to completing a research project, students will participate in lectures, seminars and field activities that focus on tropical ecology and conservation. Participants will also have the opportunity to interact with indigenous groups of Central America, allowing a first-hand look at the role of Native People in tropical forest conservation. Each student will be assigned a Research Mentor who will assist them with their independent project as well as provide support throughout the research experience. Two faculty coordinators and a teaching assistant will lead the program, which will be primarily based at Las Cruces Biological Station, with visits to other sites in Costa Rica.