Julianna traveled to Costa Rica to participate in a 3-week post-baccalaureate program hosted by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) at their La Selva Research Station in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica. During her stay, she engaged in a diverse array of workshops, including QGIS, scientific writing, grant proposal writing, storytelling, and more. Julianna pursued this opportunity to acquire practical skills that would benefit her future graduate studies. This collection of blog entries captures her experiences and reflections throughout her time at La Selva.
April 21st -April 22nd — After a long travel journey, I arrived at La Selva on the 22nd. I was immediately captivated by the lush forest and the stunning beauty of the station. The day began with formal introductions, during which I shared my background in biology and my deep passion for plants and fungi. From that very first day, I sensed that I was in for an extraordinary experience, because I was surrounded by peers who shared my eagerness to learn. I looked forward to gaining valuable insights and forging lasting connections with my cohort.
April 23rd-April 25th — On the morning of April 23rd, our journey began with an exploratory walk of La Selva. I found myself captivated by the biodiversity I was able to see after just 45 minutes of walking. That afternoon, we kicked off our series of workshops with the Reproducible Science workshop who was led by Marcelo Araya-Salas. This workshop lasted through April 25th, so we were able to learn a lot of skills including how to utilize various R packages to make graphs and how to ensure that our science is reproducible by using documentation tools like RMarkdown and GitHub repositories.
April 26th— We began our day with the typical breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs, toast, and bacon—my favorite. Following our meal, we set out on a birding tour led by Heinor, one of La Selva’s knowledgeable bird guides. My passion for birding, sparked during a previous trip to Costa Rica, was reignited by the incredible diversity of birds at La Selva.
Later that afternoon, we transitioned to our next workshop, Collecting Plants, expertly guided by Orlando (plants), the herbarium curator at La Selva. Orlando shared invaluable insights into the meticulous process of collecting, pressing, and preserving plant specimens. The workshop also included a fascinating mini-lecture on invasive plant species within the station.
April 27th — After breakfast, we jumped right into our third workshop: Herbariums, also led by Orlando (plants). This was one of my favorite workshops because he led an exercise that incorporated our natural surroundings with a lesson on taxonomy and classification on plants. He gave us garden shears and instructed us each to grab 3-5 different plants from around us. Once all of our plants were collected, we would then bring them all together and see if we could group them by families using any of the morphological characteristics we observed. Since a lot of the plants chosen weren’t in flower, we focused on grouping the plants based on the characters of the leaves. We group based on leaf arrangement, venation, and shape to name a few. After we established our groupings, we discussed if we had accurate groupings and discussed our mistakes. This exercise was one of my favorites throughout the entire course, because it very effectively introduced us to plant taxonomy and familiarized us with the plants of La Selva. That afternoon, we had non-scheduled time and decided to take a trip to town. It was nice to get out of the station and try the local foods and practice a little bit of Spanish. ¡Hoy fue un muy buen día!
April 28th — We started the day with a the Storytelling workshop, crafting compelling narratives about our current research projects. It challenged us to convey the depth and importance of our studies in an engaging way.
In the afternoon, we focused on social media storytelling about a species, a place, and a person of interest at La Selva. I chose to highlight the Yellow-Throated Toucan. I was drawn to its presence in the lush surroundings of La Selva, which I captured in photos I had taken earlier. This exercise bridged my passion for wildlife photography with newfound storytelling skills.
The day ended unexpectedly with a live dissection led by Ezequiel Vanderhoeven, an expert in sloth parasite diversity. Witnessing the dissection was both humbling and enlightening, offering a firsthand glimpse into the intricacies of wildlife research.
April 29th – Today marked the start of the first week and the second day of the storytelling workshop, where we were tasked with creating 3-5 minute videos outlining our previous research projects. For me, this challenge was both intriguing and daunting because I make TikTok videos from time to time, but I struggle from creative blocks. Despite that, I saw this as a chance to showcase my passion for content creation.
Despite my usual struggles, I was able to produce a TikTok video highlighting the potential of fungi in detoxifying pesticides.
April 30th-May 1st — We kicked off the Citizen Science workshop, diving into platforms like iNaturalist, eBird, and Merlin. The afternoon brought free time, giving me the chance to hike the trails, capture more photos, and fully immerse myself in the wonders of La Selva.
May 2nd-May 4th — We began the day meeting Sophia, the education coordinator of OTS, who would lead our next workshop: Scientific Writing. Despite the workshop’s focus on writing, typically a computer-bound task, Sophia encouraged us to step out of the lab and into the depths of the forest. Her intention was to immerse us in the tropical rainforest environment, sparking contemplation about the myriads of unanswered questions that abound in this rich ecosystem. The workshop was challenging mentally and physically but was incredibly insightful.
May 5th-May 6th — We began the Grant Proposal Writing workshop. I had not had much exposure on grant proposal writing previously. Everything was new to me, so I eagerly absorbed all of our instructor, Claudine’s, guidance. The first day covered the essentials of successful grant writing, with a fascinating twist: Claudine introduced us to using AI in innovative ways, emphasizing its role as a tool rather than a crutch.
The second day was dedicated to drafting and pitching our own grant proposals, which turned out to be both educational and enjoyable. As a bonus, we even had an encounter with a family of coatis while presenting our pitches.
May 7th – Today, with a free day ahead, we decided to visit Costa Rica’s Best Chocolate cacao farm in Sarapiquí. Our guide, Heinor, whom we knew from a previous birding excursion at La Selva, led us on a tour of the farm, sharing its history and highlighting the significance of cacao in Costa Rica. We even had the opportunity to join in the chocolate-making process, which was truly memorable. Afterward, we enjoyed lunch in the city before returning to the station.
May 8th — Today we had the Trees and Carbon workshop led by Yahairah. It was a fun experience because we contributed to a long-term carbon sequestration project at La Selva. The workshop involved finding tagged tree species and measuring their diameter at breast height, which was a new fieldwork experience for me. While I found the activity insightful and appreciated the learning opportunity, I didn’t particularly enjoy it due to encountering numerous bullet ants along the way.
May 9th-11th — We had the GIS/QGIS workshop led by Orlando (maps). It quickly became one of my favorites, as it challenged me to learn a new skill while exercising the creative side of my brain. I was super excited to take my skills back to the lab.
May 12th— As our days at La Selva were coming to an end, we participated in our last workshop: What Makes a Good CV? We also made sure to play a couple of rounds of Ecologies and embark on a night hike to see what we could find. We encountered spiders, terciopelos, frogs, bats, and more.
May 13-14th— As we packed our belongings and prepared to bid farewell to everyone we had met at La Selva, mixed emotions washed over me. I felt a mix of homesickness, eager to return, yet reluctant to leave behind the wonderful people I had befriended. Saying goodbye to the breathtaking beauty of La Selva added to the bittersweet moment. Me encantó La Selva y no puedo esperar para regresar. ¡Hasta luego, Costa Rica!
