Blogpost by Revée Needham ¡Buenos dias! My name is Revée Needham and I spent 4 weeks working in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica with Osa Conservation from December 2016 to January 2017. I came to the Osa to complete my Alumni Memorial Scholar’s project through Colgate University. Majoring in Environmental Studies and Geography, I started my interest in agriculture after debating in class the ethics of eating meat. Since then, I have developed a passion for learning more about the food I eat and how to reform industrial...

We are pleased to welcome new field staff to Osa Conservation! We are excited to have these wonderful new additions be a part of our team in the Osa Peninsula and we look forward to building on their expertise, knowledge and excellent enthusiasm to help us conserve "the most biologically intense place on earth." Please join us in welcoming Andy, Karla and Alejandra!     Dr. Andy Whitworth, Director of Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation He is originally from the UK; He lived and worked in Manu, Peru for the past...

Written by Jeremy Novak (Cornell University Student) In all honesty The Great Hummingbird War is a tad misleading for three very important reasons: 1) it is really more of a series of fights; 2) it wasn’t that great, more or less as entertaining as the morning news; and 3) the most recent fight had nothing to do with a hummingbird, but rather a moth. The Great Hummingbird War does have one big thing going for it, it sounds a lot more exciting than The Just as Entertaining as the...

This blog and all photos were provided by: Steve Ressel|Professor at College of the Atlantic This past August, I had the good fortune to visit Piro Biological Station for a few days. Piro was one stop on a seven-day scouting trip with another colleague where we explored different areas in the Osa for a future tropical ecology course. My days at Piro BioStation were few in number and mostly filled with logistical considerations associated with bringing students down to the Osa. However, I still left overwhelmed by the amount of...

A blog entry by Vedant Jain (University of California Berkeley) Hi folks or should I say Pura Vida! Here is a little snippet of one of the adventures we had here. On Wednesday morning, after a nice late start we headed to the Piro station where we met with Manuel Sanchez who gave us an introduction to the four species of local sea turtles and the sea turtle conservation efforts on the Osa Peninsula. Turtle conservation is especially important because sea turtle eggs face dangers from factors such as...

What is breadfruit? As its name suggests, breadfruit is a fruit that has the same texture as baked bread and it has what many call a potato-like flavor. Part of the Mulberry Tree family that originated in the South Pacific region, almost 300 years ago, this overlooked flowering tree has recently become a hot topic in discussing hunger, poverty and nutrition. With multiple health benefits and the nutritional value this fruit provides, breadfruit could be the next super food and staple. History of Breadfruit Originally from present-day New Guinea, breadfruit has...

Cats of the Osa Osa Conservation has recently been featured in a New York Times article that highlights our Wildlife Monitoring Program. Our extensive monitoring program captures images of wildlife and their prey in order to research their abundance within Corcovado National Park, Osa Conservation properties and other private landowners and partners in collaboration with the National University of Costa Rica (UNA). These images tell a story; they helped bring to light that the estimated fifty jaguars (a 2005 estimation) that were found in the Osa Peninsula has dwindled down to between an...

Author/Photos: Janelle Cannon Woke early one morning to join in on a sea turtle nest census. As our group walked the beach, I saw dozens of freshly dug crab burrows. These fast-moving crabs are digging machines! Manuel, who works at Osa Conservation, has been monitoring sea turtle nests for 14 years. The first nest we came upon had been pillaged by coatimundis. It was a thorough job. Only one intact egg remained. Most nests contain 100-150 eggs, so these are treasure chests of delicious protein for any hungry predator. Humans used to be the primary predator,...