Blog Post by Amaris Norwood, Intern in our DC Office [caption id="attachment_11228" align="aligncenter" width="909"] A Couple of Purple Passion Flowers; Photo by Manuel Sanchez[/caption] It's Almost Earth Day! As Earth Day approaches, we can take this time to reflect on the current environmental state of the planet.  From habitat loss to climate change, from poaching to illegal animal trade. Over recent years, we have seen species decline.  At the same time, we’ve seen habitats and species regenerate. Marine restoration, reforestation, and other conservation and preservation efforts are to thank for this.  At times, we've even been...

Blog Post by Yoshinari Fukuzawa from Middlebury College [caption id="attachment_11219" align="aligncenter" width="909"] Sunny Day on the Beach at Osa; Photo by Frank Uhlig[/caption] Journal 1: The sea turtle eggs were so soft, so delicate.  While we knelt on the warm sand and reached deep into the hole we dug, our hands gently searched for the surface of the eggs.  Once found, we took each out, one by one, clasping the soft shells that individually held a life inside.  Although frightened we might break an egg, we felt thrilled once our fingers came upon the smooth surfaces.  “Mother’s touch,” one of...

Blog Post by Sarah Karerat from Middlebury College [caption id="attachment_11207" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The beach during sunset at Osa; Photo by Manuel Sanchez[/caption] While spending our first night in our cabina at Osa, I awoke in the middle of the night to the noises that surrounded us.  The howler monkeys were screeching, rain was pouring, and I could hear insects and the Pacific Ocean crashing against the coast. I remember thinking that I may as well be sleeping outside.  During my stay, I truly felt like there was no barrier between me and...

Blog written by Juan Carlos Crus Diaz, Feline Program Coordinator I can clearly remember:  It was a hot but humid morning, which is common in this area during the dry season. As we walk through the rainforest, we struggle to keep our pace on the trail - it is steep and the humidity make us feel like we are running a marathon. We come to the last hill and finally reach the ridge of the mountain chain that goes through Piedras Blancas National Park. We summit the top and...

Blogpost written by Marvin López, Botanical Specialist [caption id="attachment_11074" align="aligncenter" width="4608"] Flowers of Aristolochia goudotii, a plant commonly called pipevine, in its natural habitat. It is a woody, evergreen, twining vine of the birthwort family that produces unusual apetulous flowers, each of which features a calyx resembling a dutchman’s pipe.[/caption] I have lived most of my life here, in the Osa Peninsula, one of the places with the most extensive forest cover of my country, Costa Rica. It holds a vast diversity of plant species, some of which are still unknown to...

Post by Philip Przybyszewski, DC Office Intern. [caption id="attachment_11117" align="aligncenter" width="6000"] A view of the far-reaching canopy and the Pacific Ocean from up above.[/caption] No, this isn’t just an issue for raving environmentalists. This is a big deal for everyone. Even though they only cover 2% of the Earth’s surface, they are of utmost importance to all species, particularly humans. Tropical rainforests are the wettest, most vegetation-intense biomes in the world, so densely-grown that a canopy is formed that weaves together the ecosystem into a far-spanning green landscape. Incredibly, this ecosystem...

Blogpost written by Sydney Denham, Conservation Volunteer [caption id="attachment_11002" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Sydney's favorite stingless bee nest.[/caption] Studying bees can be tedious work, but not because of needing to carefully avoid the stingers. The bees I've been observing (thankfully) lack them, making it easy to get up close and personal with my little buzzing friends. Rather than getting stung, this work is difficult because the nests are very challenging to find. I've learned that field biology is not just recording data vast quantities of data all day. First, the subject must be...

Blogpost written by Manuel Sánchez, Sea Turtle Program Coordinator and Wildlife Photographer The first rains. After six long months of the dry season, strong downpours have returned at last to wake the forest once more, and with them return the creatures that hid away from the rainless weather. The first glass frogs (Neobatrachia centrolenidae) begin to sing in the creeks and rivers, the water level gradually rising with the first floods of the year. The rainy season advances across in a roaring song, and various amphibian species begin to search...