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Course Information

Field Ecology of Costa Rica (BIOL 180)

Term: 2019-2020 - SPRING

Faculty

Kathleen Schnaars

Please email me and we can arrange a convenient time for both of us to 'chat'. I usually respond in 24 hours or less, except weekends/breaks.

ALL faculty office hours can be found here:

https://www.uj.edu/current-student/academics/faculty-office-hours

AND A BIT ABOUT ME -

I was born in Brooklyn, NY and loved escaping to my brother’s dairy farm in the northern Adirondacks. I was excited when an opportunity to move to North Dakota presented itself.

As a field ecologist, I have broad interests in birds, plants and insects. I conduct research on the recovery of habitat, severely degraded by destructive snow goose foraging and I oversee the Hudson Bay Project recovery ecology program. I am also interested in declines in aerial insectivores and their population trends, behavior and niche requirements, at and beyond the published range. I am currently examining this by providing and monitoring artificial nest boxes to tree swallows north of tree line and monitoring insect population trends through the breeding season. I have involved students from the US and Canada in my research projects. I also involve the local communities in Churchill, Manitoba and Jamestown, ND, in the projects as citizen scientists.

I am a member of the National Wildlife Society, ND Chapter of The Wildlife Society, North American Arctic Goose Venture, Beta-Beta-Beta Honor Society, Entomological Society of America and advisor to the UJ Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society. I am a Primary Investigator with The Hudson Bay Project and I conduct research each summer in Churchill, Manitoba. I have brought student researchers every summer to participate in the exciting investigations of the Hudson Bay Project. Let me know if you want to join me!

Schedule

Tue, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (1/13/2020 - 5/7/2020) Location: MAIN MCTH 247

Description

A field study of tropical ecology focused on several ecosystems in Costa Rica. Students will learn about the biological diversity of organisms living at the field sites, ecological interactions, and Costa Rican culture. The course meets weekly during the fall semester and includes a 12-day field trip during the winter break that follows. Class is offered on a three year rotation. (1 lecture credit + 2 lab credits).