2005 Costa Rica Ecology Pre-Course Presentation Topic Reports

Visit the Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica Syllabus

Miami has 100s of acres of beautiful Natural Areas which lend themselves to research projects! (Quicktime movie~4 mb). On the same walk, I spotted my first garter snake of the spring! In another 1 mb quicktime movie, a pair of mallard ducks lands in Harkers Run in Bachelor Woods

R. Hays Cummins |Western Program | Miami University

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Tropical Ecosystem Field Course Syllabi
Interested in the course? Contact Hays Cummins
Course Syllabus 2005: Tropical Marine Ecology of the Florida Keys, Everglades and the Bahamas Course Syllabus 2005: Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica

The Ground Rules:

Input Your Pre-Course Topic Presentation Web Posting Report HERE

These are Pre-Course Reports related to Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica. Please feel free to browse...

For students selecting a Pre-Course discussion topic outline for Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica, Input Your Pre-Course Web Posting Topic Outline, and then review feedback here. Topics have to be approved by Dr. Cummins or Dr. Myers via this web feedback. Specific topics are first-come, first-served.

Posting Steps: Input HERE

Post Pre-Course Discussion/Paper Topic Idea and Outline

Receive Feedback and Resubmit Revised Outline

Final Pre-Course Discussion Topic Paper Posting

Post-Course Research Report

A Note from Your Fearless Leaders

Hello Costa Rica Ecology Folks!
We're looking forward to our course. As part of our course expectations, each student will present a twenty minute talk on a tropical ecosystem topic of your choice during the course. These presentations will be at lunch time or in the evenings. You may have as little as one day's notice!

To do a good job in your 15-20 minute presentation, you will need to hit the library and WWW well ahead of time. We will use the World Wide Web as our Discussion Feedback Central. You can see what other students are talking about and I would expect that you would submit suggestions on other peoples topics as well! In the selection of a topic, besides submitting a title, include a synopsis of your discussion topic. What do you plan on teaching the class? Why do you feel your topic is important? Include an outline of your talk and at least 5 references! I will provide feedback(everyone is welcome to contribute suggestions) via the web.

The time line for completion is:

-By Mar 15, 2005. Topic Selection, Paragraph, Outline, and Sources. First-Come, First-Served!

-April 1, 2005. Final Submission: Rewrite after having received feedback.

-May 15, 2005. Final Paper Posting. A five page paper on your discussion topic.

Topics can include, but are not restricted to, anything related to tropical ecology. Some topic ideas include land use, agriculture, climate change, climate in the tropics, conservation, plants (epiphytes, emergent trees, palms, understory plants); processes (predation in tropical rain forests, competition, nutrient cycling, mutualism), hydroelectric power, conservation, plate tectonics and volcanism in the Neotropics, indigenous peoples, coral reefs in Costa Rica, mangrove ecosystems, deforestation, species loss, or specfic species or family studies on reptiles, amphibians, birds, or other specific organisms (e.g., monkeys, bats, sloths, lizards, parrots, fresh water fish, mollusks, butterflies and moths) or other topics addressing biodiversity and sustainability (the national park system, economy and sustainability in Costa Rica, soil types, cattle ranching, the timber industry, environmentalism, medicinal plants). Let your interests lead the way. Do not be constrained by these suggestions! Look at what other students have talked about in previous years. To "prime" your discussion, you may wish to provide readings in advance to the class.

Let us know if we can help in any way. And, if you haven't done so yet, check out the Trop Ecosystems of Costa Rica Image Web Page. You'll get a taste of what's in store!

Hays and Chris

A Note from Your Fearless Leaders
Hello Costa Rica Ecology Folks! We're looking forward to our course. As part of our course expectations, each student will present a twenty minute talk on a tropical ecosystem topic of your choice during the course. These presentations will be at lunch time or in the evenings. You may have as little as one day's notice! To do a good job in your 15-20 minute presentation, you will need to hit the library and WWW well ahead of time. We will use the World Wide Web as our Discussion Feedback Central. You can see what other students are talking about and I would expect that you would submit suggestions on other peoples topics as well! In the selection of a topic, besides submitting a title, include a synopsis of your discussion topic. What do you plan on teaching the class? Why do you feel your topic is important? Include an outline of your talk and at least 5 references! I will provide feedback(everyone is welcome to contribute suggestions) via the web. The time line for completion is: -By Mar 15, 2005. Topic Selection, Paragraph, Outline, and Sources. First-Come, First-Served! -April 1, 2005. Final Submission: Rewrite after having received feedback. -May 15, 2005. Final Paper Posting. A five page paper on your discussion topic. Topics can include, but are not restricted to, anything related to tropical ecology. Some topic ideas include land use, agriculture, climate change, climate in the tropics, conservation, plants (epiphytes, emergent trees, palms, understory plants); processes (predation in tropical rain forests, competition, nutrient cycling, mutualism), hydroelectric power, conservation, plate tectonics and volcanism in the Neotropics, indigenous peoples, coral reefs in Costa Rica, mangrove ecosystems, deforestation, species loss, or specfic species or family studies on reptiles, amphibians, birds, or other specific organisms (e.g., monkeys, bats, sloths, lizards, parrots, fresh water fish, mollusks, butterflies and moths) or other topics addressing biodiversity and sustainability (the national park system, economy and sustainability in Costa Rica, soil types, cattle ranching, the timber industry, environmentalism, medicinal plants). Let your interests lead the way. Do not be constrained by these suggestions! Look at what other students have talked about in previous years. To "prime" your discussion, you may wish to provide readings in advance to the class. Let us know if we can help in any way. And, if you haven't done so yet, check out the Trop Ecosystems of Costa Rica Image Web Page. You'll get a taste of what's in store! Hays and Chris

Look at previous years' submissions:

Field Course Discussions/Presentations-2005, '04, '03, '02, '01,'00, '99 and '98

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Tropical Ecosystems of Costa Rica 2005

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