United Nations Development Fund – Costa Rica January 3, 2012
Posted by cwslibrary in Advanced Projects, Costa Rica, Wellesley Internships in Latin America.Tags: Law/Politics, Poverty, Science/Technology
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The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is the United Nations’ global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. There are UNDP offices in 166 countries, working on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and its wide range of partners. Major priorities of the UNDP include: democratic governance, poverty reduction, environment and energy, crisis prevention and recovery, and HIV/AIDS.
Advanced Project Description for 2012
The intern will work in the Costa Rica office. She will work with staff to define and implement a project that capitalizes on her strengths and interests, as well as the needs of the organization. Previous intern’s duties included: helping to organize a forum on civil society, compiling background research on a variety of issues (including science and technology, production and employment, government spending, and public policies), and speech writing. For 2011, the internship will focus on issues of democratic governance and gender equality, and the dissemination of related information via the Internet.
Desired Qualifications
Strong communication and organizational skills, strong Spanish (all office communication occurs in Spanish), ability to take initiative, interest/background in international development and the UN Millennium Development Goals, computer proficiency, experience in developing procedural systems.
Language requirement: spoken and written Spanish
The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) November 18, 2010
Posted by tashabeg in Costa Rica, Wellesley Internships in Latin America.Tags: Costa Rica, Environment/Animals, research, Science/Technology
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The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) is a non-profit consortium that hasgrown to include 63 universities and research institutions from the United States, Latin America andAustralia. In the early 1960′s, scientists from U.S. universities forged working relationships with colleagues at the Universidad de Costa Rica in the interest of strengthening education and research in tropical biology.Intense interest both in the U.S. and Costa Rica led to the founding of OTS in 1963. OTS was founded to provide leadership in education, research and the responsible use of natural resources in the tropics. To address this mission, OTS conducts graduate and undergraduate education, facilitates research, participates in tropical forest conservation, maintains three biological stations in Costa Rica and conducts environmental and education programs.
The Bosques Project, located in northeastern Costa Rica in and around La Selva Biological Station, was initiated in 1997 to investigate the factors that influence the spatial and temporal dynamics of seedling,sapling, and tree regeneration in second-growth forests. The project hopes to increase our knowledge of vegetation dynamics, and the use of secondary forests for forestry and biodiversity conservation.The research team has been monitoring trees, saplings, and seedlings in 1-ha plots annually for over 13 years.The project is currently funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA. Dr. Robin Chazdon, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, is the principal investigator. This project is now part of a larger project comparing forest successional dynamics in tropical wet forests of Mexico, Brazil, and Costa Rica).
Internship Description for 2011
Students will be supervised by two doctoral students and will actively participate in research projects. One of the interns shall investigate seed dispersal by tent-roosting frugivorous bats. Interns will assist with surveys and mapping of tent plants, surveys of seedlings of dispersed tree species, and monitoring of seed dispersal beneath tent roosts. Another project focuses on functional traits of leaves and wood of trees and seedlings. Interns will assist with collection of material and measurement of functional traits in forest plots and of seedlings in experimental plots.
Students will be residents at La Selva Biological Station. Accommodations are rustic but comfortable and rooms will be shared. Laboratory facilities are air-conditioned and internet is freely available. La Selva Biological Station is a 2-hr bus ride from San José, the capital city. La Selva is a wet place and June-August is a wet time of year. Students should be prepared to get wet and hot doing fieldwork. Hiking and/or biking is required for access to field sites. Note that up to $1,000 will be deducted from the intern’s payment to cover housing costs.
Desired Qualifications
Preferred majors are environmental studies and biology. Field experience and/or outdoor experience is a big plus as there will be much physical activity (biking, hiking, hot sweaty days, buggy conditions, mud, etc.). Ability to speak/understand spoken Spanish (introductory level) is important.
Language Requirement: Ability to speak/understand spoken Spanish at the introductory is important.
