2011-2012
Block 3
Course Cost: ~$2850
Conservation requires understanding both wildlife and human behavior. Conservation efforts
which are not supported by the local people are
generally destined to fail. Why do people hold
the feelings they have and respond the way
they do to wildlife?
Payment Schedule:
Non-Refundable Deposit: $285 due April 4
Payment #2: $1200 due May 25
Payment #3: $1000 due August 22
Payment #4: ~$365 due September 28
Case Studies in
Tropical Wildlife
Conservation
(BIO 283)
Course Cost Includes: Airfare, in-country
transportation, accommodations, most meals
Students should register for the course they wish to take during
normal Spring registration. In order to participate, students must
have at least a 2.0 GPA and be in good disciplinary and financial
standing at the college.
Need More Information?
For General Questions Contact:
Jeannie Burns, Office of International & Off-Campus Studies
Jburns@cornellcollege.edu—319-895-4385
For Questions about BIO283 Contact:
In this unique pair of linked courses we will visit
several places in Costa Rica where wildlife conservation efforts are underway, often in ways
that are controversial. While each course will
have its own focus appropriate to its discipline,
both courses will travel together and share
many common experiences with Costa Rican
people and wildlife.
Professor Andy McCollum
amccollum@cornellcollege.edu—319-895-4387
Environmental
Psychology:
The Costa Rican
Prototype
(PSY 255)
For Questions about PSY 255 Contact:
Professor Alice Ganzel
aganzel@cornellcollege.edu—319-895-4104
Or
Professor Judy Siebert
jsiebert@cornellcollege.edu—319-895-4553
Study in Costa Rica!
PSY255—Environmental Psychology:
The Costa Rican Prototype
BIO 283—Case Studies in
Tropical Wildlife Conservation
This course will focus on experiential learning
with wildlife conservation projects at several
locations
in Costa
Rica.
Ostional National Wildlife Refuge
The Ostional Wildlife Refuge protects marine
turtle species, such as the Olive Ridley (Lora) and
Leatherback (Baula) at Playa Ostional on the Nicoya Peninsula Costa Rica. Arribadas at this
beach are considered the largest in the world,
with as many as a million sea turtle eggs laid in
the beach nesting areas each year.
In addition to hands-on experience with a diversity of animal species, will will also study
the biology of the focal species and discuss
primary literature related to the projects we
This course will address how psychology influences human decisions regarding environmental
issues, especially conservation decisions. It will
include the development of values/moral systems
and the closely related concept of how worldviews develop, and how
to assess each of theses;
various routes of persuasion and how these
interact with particular
worldviews; how biases
and emotions influence
information processing;
how language affects
discourse related to the
environment.
work on and observe.
We will explore the
interactions of local
residents, tourists, and
conservation practitioners with species of
conservation interest. Our focus will be on
what conservation looks like on the ground,
whether by governmental agencies, NGOs,
businesses or private landowners, and on what
approaches seem to be succeeding or failing.
PRE-REQUISITE: BIO142 OR ENV101
Osa Biodiversity Center
The Osa Biodiversity Center, located in the midst
of thousands of acres of rainforest, provides accommodations for researchers, students and volunteers working on programs designed to support the survival of this important ecosystem.
Costa Rican staff members work with individuals
from all over the world drawn here in this effort
to protect irreplaceable neo-tropical habitat.
Ocelots, Scarlet Macaws and four species of
monkeys make their homes in the forest surrounding the OBC and the beach at Rio Piro is the
nesting place of several species of sea turtles.
This course
will draw from
and incorporate various aspects of psychology (especially developmental, cognitive and social) and is envisioned to marry philosophical issues and a practical/problem-solving approach to address the
question of the aspects of human behavior that
enhance or undermine conservation and influence
environmental-related cultural attitudes.
PRE-REQUISITE: PSY161 OR ANT101 OR SOC101