Josie's Research Trip to Costa Rica

My name is Josie Weiler, I'm a student at Regis University and majoring in Environmental Science. In order to extend my environmental knowledge, I have been given the opportunity, through the biology department, to spend 3 weeks this summer in La Selva rainforest in Costa Rica to learn about Primate Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation. We will be focusing on studying Howler monkeys and Capuchin monkeys. Staying on site, we will spend our days gathering data and observing interactions within their communities. The La Selva rainforest is surrounded by banana and pineapple plantations. Many other students and I will begin to understand the complex relationship between humans, wildlife, economics, and politics by living in such a threatened environment and learning about the various stakeholders, both human and nonhuman.

I've always had a large passion for the environment and I would love to have this experience to help with a possible future career. I am strongly considering going into research and specifically getting outside and participating in hands-on data gathering. This trip would be a more than perfect opportunity to dip my toes into this field and reassure my interest.

The course fee is ~$2500 in addition to round-trip flights to San Jose and summer tuition credits. This comes out to be ~$5000 in total. I am asking for help from my family and friends to make this experience possible for me this summer. Any contribution would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!