Blog Post by José Luis Molina Quirós, Alvaro Ugalde Scholarship Awardee Costa Rica has a great diversity of species and marine ecosystems that protect and provide food to hundreds of organisms in various phases of their life cycle. For example, El Golfo de Papagayo and Golfo Dulce are just a few of the many hot spots that harbor this diversity of marine species and ecosystems, but these species have not been completely protected. [caption id="attachment_11784" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Sampling of species (Lutjanus guttatus, L. peru and Centropumus viridis) product of artisanal fisheries.[/caption] Currently, our country...

Blogposts written by Research Field Assistants Mariam Weyand, Bryan Graybill, and Alexandra Mörth Rewarding Research Working as a research field assistant (RFA) for the Sea Turtle Conservation Program with Osa Conservation is really different from the other places I have worked for, and so far, it has been really rewarding. Every day, we conduct morning patrols to register any activity from the previous night and relocate nests that are at risk to the hatchery. I wake up between 3:45 and 5:00 a.m. depending on which beach I am going to patrol and on the...

Blog Post by Breanna Hart Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Osa Conservation has allowed me to both live and learn in a beautiful environment that no other place in the world can contest with. The spectacular view of the ocean and rainforest back-to-back lead me to a tropical wilderness and the fascinating creatures within it. One magnificent creature that spends time on the unique beaches is the turtle, and this is my experience with them: 4.30...

Blog Post by James Purcell, Restoration and Rewilding Intern The daylight was rapidly disappearing, as we clambered through the thick undergrowth, over vines and palm leaves bigger than me, then across a muddy stream and still more dense brush. Then, we heard it again -  a long, mournful series of calls that sounded like a child laughing, or perhaps crying, in the distance. We all stopped, holding our breath; the only sounds were the omnipresent croaking of the frogs and the pumping of our excited hearts. Then, as casually as...

Blog Post by Stanimira Deleva, Alvaro Ugalde Scholarship Awardee The Osa Peninsula is a place where, even after hundreds of exploratory expeditions, there is always something to be discovered. As one of the world's most biodiverse sites, the Osa is home to a vast variety of bats, most who use caves as a refuge, that have not yet been fully explored. I first visited the peninsula in 2015 to study the bats. Several of the bats that we caught in mist nets were cave-dwellers. I wondered where these bats...

Blog Post By Marina Garrido, Restoration & Rewilding Program Assistant As one of the assistants of the Restoration & Rewilding Program, I am happy to announce a new project entitled “Creating the First Conservation Action Plan for the Endemic and Endangered Golfo Dulce Poison Dart Frog using Citizen Science and Tiny-Tech.” [caption id="attachment_11740" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Phyllobates vittatus posing perfectly for Robin Moore´s camera lens at Osa Conservation's Biological Station. Photo taken from the book In Search of Lost Frogs by Robin Moore.[/caption] Many of you might be wondering, what makes...

Blog Post by Dr. Mark Laidre, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College Few things are more fascinating to layperson and scientist alike than animal behavior. For some, this simple fascination can ultimately fuel a lifelong passion for discovering why animals do what they do. Perhaps no better example is the Nobel Prize-winning biologist Karl von Frisch, who, as one of the founding fathers of animal behavior, spent decades studying the social behavior of bees. It may at first seem puzzling how someone could devote such prolonged study...

Blog Post by Hector Zumbado-Ulate, Alvaro Ugalde Scholarship Awardee My name is Hector Zumbado-Ulate and I’m one of the awardees of Osa Conservation's Alvaro Ugalde Scholarship. Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology at Purdue University. Since I started my studies in biology, I felt very attached to amphibian conservation projects, especially those helping species which are currently endangered by anthropogenic causes. For that reason, I wanted to work with the critically endangered Golfito robber frog. Specifically, I want to examine why this species persists...