It is also designed to give students hands-on experience in the search for medicinal plants in the Neotropics. Techniques for characterization of the forest and map making will be learned. The course will consist of lectures and field work, with field work representing a large portion of the course. Students will participate in the exploration of the island of Ometepe and the rain forest at La Suerte. The island of Ometepe is a particularly attractive site for such studies since it had served as the meeting place for the Mayan and Inca cultures. When the shamans from the north and south traveled to Ometepe, they brought with them and planted seeds of the plants that they would need both for rituals and medicines.
This course will be divided into two portions: two weeks in Costa Rica and two weeks in Nicaragua. This will allow students to be exposed to four distinct habitats:
This course will provide students who are considering a career involving fieldwork in the tropics to experience the joys and hardships they can expect, but in a relatively benign atmosphere.
The material covered in the course is equivalent to an upper level or graduate university course. Students who enroll in the course should have a knowledge of botany and basic organic chemistry.
Students will be expected to work hard, but we also intend to provide students with a fun experience. While at Ometepe, students will have the opportunity to bike, kayak, hike, and camp in the crater of a volcano (extinct!).