[Coral-List] 2022 SUMMER CORAL REEF FIELD COURSES in PANAMA

Wed Apr 20 03:25:05 UTC 2022

2022 Summer Field Courses at The Institute of Tropical Ecology and Conservation (June - August)
Open for applications now!
For more info see below or go to https://itec-edu.org/<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fitec-edu.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C31c3f60b5b2046e0ea5808da2176887f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637859090226181493%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=aiad26wiKUbOKSdEmQNeBzdsJ5Cu%2B7Ob%2BZDQyC3oSwU%3D&reserved=0>

Now offering: CORAL REEF ECOLOGY and TROPICAL BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

(1) CORAL REEF ECOLOGY (CRE B-22 and CRE C-22)

Session B: June 15 through July 10 and Session C: July 15 through August 9

COURSE LOCATION: Bocas del Toro Biological Station, Boca del Drago, Isla Colon, Republic of Panama. The biological station is located on a hill facing Almirante Bay and Volcan Baru on the mainland.  Coral reef and lowland tropical rainforest ecosystems are immediately accessible from the field station.  This juxtaposition of the two most biologically diverse ecosystems along with Panama's rich cultural diversity provides tremendous opportunities for education and research.  See http://www.itec-edu.org for details.

INSTRUCTOR: Lonnie Kaczmarsky, Ph.D.<http://itec-edu.org/faculty-and-staff/dr-lonnie-kaczmarsky/>

St. Johns River State College Science Department, 5001 St. Johns Ave., Palatka, Florida 32177. Phone: (386) 312-4298 Email:  LonginKaczmarsky at sjrstate.edu<mailto:LonginKaczmarsky at sjrstate.edu> or solonnie at hotmail.com<mailto:solonnie at hotmail.com> Specialty: Coral reef ecology, marine fish ecology, marine conservation.

NOTE: Diving certification is not necessary to enroll in this course but is recommended. For SCUBA certified (PADI, NAUI, or SSI certified) students who will be diving, there is a $100 Lab Fee with this course which covers dive tank, air and dive weight rental. Students with SCUBA certification are expected to bring their own BC, regulators, mask/fin/snorkel and proof of certification. For those not diving certified, students are expected to bring mask/fin/snorkel.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to provide the student with a sound foundation in ecological concepts, techniques and experimental design in field research as applied to coral reef ecosystems. The material covered is equivalent to a university upper-level course in coral reef field ecology. The course will begin with a global ecosystem perspective and then will progressively narrow to assess the way in which local reefs are influenced by both global and local phenomena. We will briefly survey reef systems in various parts of the world and focus in depth on Caribbean reefs.
Using the reefs near Bocas del Toro as an example, we will carry on an inventory of representative reef biota to characterize a general reef community. We will examine several theories of the origins of reefs and discuss some controversial arguments on the ecological processes ruling the dominant state and health of coral reefs. Students will learn to characterize a general reef community and its place among surrounding marine habitats. The major reef biota will be discussed in terms of their phylogeny, biology, physiology, ecological requirements and roles in species interactions on reefs. We will discuss the impacts of anthropogenic stressors to coral reefs and the roles of marine reserves, coral nurseries, and pollution mariculture in reef conservation and restoration. In the inventory we will examine and compare several experimental designs and sampling schemes with regard to their usefulness in a reef setting.

Formal Lectures
Lectures will present topics that provide a background for the field work in an interactive discussion format. Topics are selected to teach students about the biology and ecology of the reef organisms they will encounter and permit students to develop an awareness of the objectives of research on coral reefs as well as an appreciation of current theoretical and practical issues and approaches in ecology and conservation.

Lecture Topics

  *   Fundamentals of oceanography, global ecology
  *   Plate tectonics, formation of ocean basins, continents and ocean currents
  *   Reef morphology, distribution of reef systems
  *   Ecological linkages between coral reef, seagrass and mangrove ecosystems
  *   Coral reef community study: sampling methods for distribution and abundance of organisms
  *   Coral reef community study: components and interactions, trophic dynamics
  *   Biology of coral reef organisms: Cnidarians
  *   Biology of coral reef organisms: Poriferans
  *   Biology of coral reef organisms: Mollusks, Annelids, Arthropods, and Bryozoans
  *   Biology of coral reef organisms: Echinoderms and Ascidians
  *   Biology of coral reef organisms: Fishes
  *   Biology of coral reef organisms and associated plants: Macroalgae, Seagrass, and Mangroves
  *   Ecosystem stability, resilience, and fragility/resistance
  *   Anthropogenic effects on reefs: climate change, pollution, overfishing, and diseases
  *   Marine protected areas, coral restoration, pollution mariculture, ecotourism, and environmental policy

Readings
Assignments relating to lecture topics will be made from the texts and supplementary research readings are peer reviewed articles that will be assigned and provided as PDFs.

Required Texts
Sheppard, CRC, Davy, S.K. and G.M. Pilling The Biology of Coral Reefs, Oxford Press, USA.
Humann, Paul. Reef Coral Identification, New World, Jacksonville, FL.
Humann, Paul. Reef Creature Identification, New World, Jacksonville, FL.

Field Work Briefings
Prior to departing for the reef site, dive teams will be formed and the objectives for the day will be outlined and discussed. Assignments will be made to the dive teams and coordinated.

Group Exercises
During the first week, students will visit several sites in the vicinity of the station to familiarize themselves with the area and to make observations that may lead to hypotheses that could be tested in individual projects. Students will be organized into dive teams and will carry out field exercises in which they will gain experience in the use of sampling equipment and techniques used in reef research and monitoring. In the evenings, students will participate in ‘debriefing sessions’ during which they will identify the reef organisms they saw during the dives of the day and record the common name and scientific name of the species in a logbook.

Individual Research Projects
Each student will be expected to prepare a research proposal for an original project in consultation with faculty.  Projects may be suggested by observations made during group exercises or from the research literature, and will be evaluated on the basis of feasibility in the available time, soundness of experimental design and concept. During the final week of the course, data analysis and writing of project reports will be carried out and students will present their results orally in an end-of-course symposium. They will present the research report on their findings in the form of a scientific journal article for evaluation.

GRADING AND COURSE CREDIT
Grades will be assigned based on exams, reports, proposals, attendance at lectures, as well as by less tangibles such as personal attitude, motivation, and contribution to the course. The instructor will provide a breakdown of points earned and final letter grade to your academic institution. The student is to provide direct evidence of course participation such as the syllabus, schedules, handouts, lecture notes, proposals, reports, etc. Please arrange for credit through your department or academic advisor.

COURSE LENGTH:  ITEC Summer field courses are about four weeks in length.  The CRE B-22 course will run from June 15 through July 10, 2022 and CRE C-22 course will run from July 15 through August 9, 2022.

BOQUETE CLOUD FOREST FIELD TRIP:  This three-day field trip takes place

midway through the course and will allow students the opportunity to experience assemblages of amphibians and reptiles found in tropical cloud and seasonally dry forests.  We travel in ITEC boats to the mainland and then by private bus to the town of Boquete which lies at the base of 11,000 ft Volcan Baru.  The bus trip will take us up and over the central mountain range and through remote Palo Seco National Park.  Several stops will be made in route.

TUITION: $2500 USD.  Tuition fee includes all lodgings, meals and airport transfers in Bocas del Toro.  The tuition also covers transportation and lodging during the three-day cloud forest field trip on the mainland to the town of Boquete.  Payments to ITEC should be made through ITEC PayPal using itec1 at itec-edu.org.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: May 15 for Session B and June 15 for Session C.  The course is limited to 10 students and applications will be evaluated as they arrive.  Applications can be found at http://www.itec-edu.org/application.pdf.  If you believe that your application may arrive late, notify ITEC.

GRADING & CREDIT: Up to 6 units of credit will be given, 3 for the lecture portion and 3 for the field/lab portion. A letter grade will be assigned based on exams, research reports and presentations, lecture attendance, and participation in discussions and activities. Course credit must be arranged at the student's institution. Contact ITEC for details.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation, 2911 NW 40th PL, Gainesville, FL 32605, phone: 352-367-9128 (Gainesville office) or phone or WhatsApp: +1507-6853-2134 (Field Station in Panama), emails: itec at itec-edu.org<mailto:itec at itec-edu.org>, or peterlahanas at gmail.com<mailto:peterlahanas at gmail.com>, website: http://www.itec-edu.org<http://www.itec-edu.org/>.  ITEC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1996.

(2) TROPICAL BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION (TBC C-22)

Session C: July 15 through August 9

COURSE LOCATION: Bocas del Toro Biological Station, Boca del Drago, Isla Colon, Republic of Panama. The biological station is located on a hill facing Almirante Bay and Volcan Baru on the mainland.  Coral reef and lowland tropical rainforest ecosystems are immediately accessible from the field station.  This juxtaposition of the two most biologically-diverse ecosystems along with Panama's rich cultural diversity provides tremendous opportunities for education and research.  See http://www.itec-edu.org for details.

INSTRUCTORS:

Leonor Ceballos, Ph.D. cand., Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia, and the Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation.  Phone: 507-6489-5570, Email: lceballosmeraz at gmail.com<mailto:lceballosmeraz at gmail.com>. Specialty: Terrestrial ecology, resource management, ecology, animal behavior.

Longin (Lonnie) Kaczmarsky, Ph.D., St. Johns River State College Science Department, 5001 St. Johns Ave., Palatka, Florida 32177. Phone: (386) 312-4298 Email:  LonginKaczmarsky at sjrstate.edu<mailto:LonginKaczmarsky at sjrstate.edu> or solonnie at hotmail.com<mailto:solonnie at hotmail.com> Specialty: Coral reef ecology, marine fish ecology, marine conservation.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the basic principles of tropical ecosystems, biodiversity, and their conservation. The course focuses on biodiversity conservation in the ecological context of Panamanian Caribbean rainforests and coral reef systems. Through lectures, group discussions, field exercises, and an independent research project, students will receive an in-depth understanding of tropical ecology and conservation issues and practices.  Students will be offered first-hand field research experience by examining the importance of balancing biodiversity conservation and natural resource use for human development. Topics will often be viewed through local, regional, and global perspectives, frequently comparing Bocas del Toro conservation issues with those elsewhere in Latin America and beyond.  By the end of the course, students will have familiarized themselves with methods and applications that allow an understanding of the fundamental concepts of biodiversity conservation. The course material is equivalent to a university upper-level field course.

COURSE SCHEDULE:  During the first few days of the course students will receive an orientation that focuses on the history, ecology, resources, and socio-economics of the Bocas del Toro region. The next phase of the course integrates traditional lectures, readings, paper discussions and field exercises to provide students with a working knowledge of the principles of biodiversity protection and familiarity with a broad range of approaches to conservation on tropical islands and their fragile ecosystems. Students will draw upon this knowledge as they design independent research projects and write a proposal.  Students will then collect data for their independent research for approximately one week.  During the last few days of the course, students will analyze their data, write a research report, and present their findings. The course schedule will be determined on site as a function of student needs and preferences, and may be weather-dependent.

FORMAL LECTURE TOPICS (some examples):

  *   Defining Biodiversity
  *   Value of Biodiversity
  *   Bocas Ecosystem Biodiversity: Rainforests, Coral Reefs, Mangroves
  *   Species Diversity and Species Loss
  *   Causes of Biodiversity Loss
  *   Habitat Loss, Alteration and Fragmentation
  *   Ecosystem Services
  *   Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge
  *   Community-based Conservation
  *   Nature Reserves and Protected areas
  *   Oceanic Plastic Pollution: Micro Plastics
  *   Island Biogeography Theory and Reserve Size
  *   Reforestation and Afforestation
  *   Carbon sequestration in Forests and Marine Systems
  *   Ecological Carbon Footprint
  *   Global Climate Change: Causes and Effects
  *   Sustainable Development
  *   Environmental Costs to Ecotourism
  *   Natural vs. human disturbances as part of the coral reef ecosystem and its evolution
  *   Sustainable and restoration approaches in coral reef conservation

READINGS: Most readings are peer reviewed articles which will be assigned and provided as PDFs. Some examples of readings include:

  *   Costanza, R., de Groot, R., Sutton, P., van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., … & Turner, R. K. (2014). Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global environmental change, 26, 152-158.
  *   Barnosky el a. (2011).  Has the Earths sixth mass extinction already arrived?
  *   Moritz, C., & Agudo, R. (2013). The future of species under climate change: resilience or decline? Science, 341, 504-508.
  *   Porter-Bolland, L., Ellis, E. A., Guariguata, M. R., Ruiz-Mallén, I., Negrete-Yankelevich, S., & Reyes-García, V. (2012). Community managed forests and forest protected areas: An assessment of their conservation effectiveness across the tropics. Forest Ecology and Management, 268, 6-17.
  *   Guzman, H. & Barnes, P. & Lovelock, Catherine & Feller, Ilka. (2005). A site description of the CARICOMP mangrove, seagrass and coral reef sites in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Caribbean Journal of Science. 41.
  *   Cramer K, Donovan M, Jackson J, Greenstain B, Korpanty C, Cook G, Pandolfi J
(2021) The transformation of Caribbean coral communities since humans. Ecol Evol. 2021 Jul 17;11(15):10098-10118.
  *   Stewart, H. A., D. I. Kline, L. J. Chapman, and A. H. Altieri. 2021. Caribbean mangrove forests act as coral refugia by reducing light stress and increasing coral richness. Ecosphere 12(3): e03413.
  *   Shantz, A. A., Ladd, M. C., and Burkepile, D. E. 2020. Overfishing and the ecological impacts of extirpating large parrotfish from Caribbean coral reefs. Ecological Monographs 90(2): e01403.
  *   Wear, S.L. and Thurber, R.V. (2015), Sewage pollution: mitigation is key for coral reef stewardship. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1355: 15-30.

TEXTBOOK:  Primack, R. B. (2012). A primer of conservation biology. Sunderland, Massachusetts. Sinauer Associates. 363 p.

GROUP FIELD PROJECTS: These are field exercises, demonstrations or projects designed by the faculty and worked on in groups. The purpose of these exercises/projects is to familiarize students with an array of field sampling techniques and equipment commonly used in conservation and biodiversity studies. With help from a faculty member, students set up projects, collect data, and generally (depending on the project), analyze data, and present the results to the class.  Some group field exercises and activities include (but are not limited to):

  *   Carbon Sequestration in Secondary vs. Primary Forests
  *   Biodiversity Assessments of Forests and Mangroves
  *   Invertebrate Diversity on Protected and Unprotected Coral Reefs
  *   Biodiversity Loss on Starfish Beach:  Effect of Ecotourism
  *   Reforestation Project at Finca Maribella and Carbon Footprint Mitigation
  *   Analysis of Beach Litter: What, Where and from Whom

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PROJECTS:  Working closely with faculty, students will be responsible for designing and completing an original research project of their choosing.  The project may deal with any topic involving biodiversity or conservation.  These projects will be carried out during the second half of the course and students will have about a week for data collection.  A few days before the end of the course students will analyze their data, write a technical report, prepare a PowerPoint presentation of their work and orally present their findings during a station-wide symposium on the last day of the course.

BOQUETE CLOUD FOREST FIELD TRIP:  This three-day field trip takes place midway through the course and will allow students the opportunity to experience assemblages of amphibians and reptiles found in tropical cloud and seasonally dry forests.  We travel in ITEC boats to the mainland and then by private bus to the town of Boquete which lies at the base of 11,000 Volcan Baru.  The bus trip will take us up and over the central mountain
range and through remote Palo Seco National Park.  Several stops will be made in route.

COURSE LENGTH:  ITEC Summer field courses are about four weeks in length.  The TBC C-22 course will run from July 15 through August 9, 2022.

TUITION: $2500 USD.  Tuition fee includes all lodgings, meals and airport transfers in Bocas del Toro.  The tuition also covers transportation and lodging during the three-day cloud forest field trip on the mainland to the town of Boquete.  Payments to ITEC should be made through ITEC PayPal using itec1 at itec-edu.org.

 REGISTRATION DEADLINE: June 15, 2022.  The course is limited to 10 students and applications will be evaluated as they arrive.  Applications can be found at http://www.itec-edu.org/application.pdf.  If you believe that your application may arrive late, notify ITEC.

GRADING & CREDIT: Up to 6 units of credit will be given, 3 for the lecture portion and 3 for the field portion. A letter grade will be assigned based on exams, research reports and presentations, lecture attendance, and participation in discussions and activities. Course credit must be arranged at the student's institution. Contact ITEC for details.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation, 2911 NW 40th PL, Gainesville, FL 32605, phone: 352-367-9128 (Gainesville office) or phone or WhatsApp: +1507-6853-2134 (Field Station in Panama), emails: itec at itec-edu.org<mailto:itec at itec-edu.org>, or peterlahanas at gmail.com<mailto:peterlahanas at gmail.com>, website: http://www.itec-edu.org<http://www.itec-edu.org/>.  ITEC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1996.