Projects

Sarah: It’s been busy since we got back from Panama (isn’t always busy, no matter what you’re doing?). The students have come to realize that they don’t have too many more weeks here at QERC, so most of them are frantically working on their research projects. Those that had gotten a good start before their trip to Nicaragua have used this time to really be out there collecting data, and those that hadn’t had such a good start have realized that they need to kick it into gear. Needless to say, it’s been fun to see them out on the trails more and finding some good information for their projects. Both David and I have gotten to help with different projects (naturally David quite a bit more, seeing as he’s the biologist. However, my days teaching outdoor education at Mission Springs have allowed me to help a girl catch invertebrates in the stream—one of my favorite activities!).

David’s also been working hard on some other projects that he’s started. Lately he’s been pouring his time into an informational board for QERC so that the entire community can be a part of the work we have going on here, and also the museum. We are having a couple of ladies paint a mural of the cloud forest on one of our walls in the museum, which we are thrilled about. So David has been collecting pictures and video footage so they have a lot to work with. (This beetle is one picture he was really excited about.) We even had one of the boys in the valley find a dead snake and bring it to us to preserve for the museum! Both David and I are really excited about the transformation of the museum, since it was one of Efrain’s dreams from the very beginning to have such a room for the entire community, especially for the kids.

We have also had to make a couple trips into San Jose since returning to Costa Rica. Many students came back sick from Nicaragua because of change in diet (LOTS of food consisting of mostly rice and beans) and a couple actually contracted some kind of parasite from having drinks with ice in it—the water is not drinkable in Nicaragua. So, we’ve had to go into the city to get them all checked out and cured.

And today David is out with Melvin, one of the main birders in the community. For his birthday back in January, I paid for an all-day birding outing for the two of them, and today was finally the day that they are both available to take advantage of it.