Trinity / Assumption Costa Rica Trip 2023

Students present their findings to family and friends. Way to go!

 

 

  An exciting night of turtle sweeps last night. This is the first time a Trinity group has seen a nesting turtle (out of 8 years of coming down here). We originally met up at the beach and took two separate groups in opposite directions in hopes that we could find some turtles. One group was fortunate to find a False Crawl tracks (a first as well), which is when a sea turtle comes ashore and then back out to sea. The other group discovered tracks on their way back and we all met up to see what was going on. When we arrived, the turtle had already laid her eggs and we watched her retreat to the sea. We then watched our guide dig up the nest and secure 90 eggs to be put in the hatchery. What an amazing experience. 

 Today, we started with our last meal at Finca La Anita. It's crazy to think that today was the last day we'll have the rice and beans that we have had for breakfast for the past 8 days. After another lovely breakfast, we loaded all of our packed bags onto the bus to travel to Playa Junquillal to hang out and learn about marine turtles. The bus ride to the beach was so interesting, as we got to see a Guanacaste tree, as well as the varied landscape. We learned that the Guanacaste tree is what the region of Costa Rica that we are in is named after. We also learned that it is protected and can't be cut down. It crazy to think that so much variety can be so present in such a small (by land area) country! Upon arrival, we ate a lovely lunch of pizza. The pizza was so amazing, yet so filling that we all wanted to eat more, but were too full! At the beach, we went to the Verdiazul hatchery for marine turtles. The woman that runs the hatchery shared so much information about the t...

      First we all woke up a bit earlier than normal because we had more to pack for the day. We all went up for breakfast where we had beans, rice, toast, and cereal. As soon as we finished eating, we said our farewells to the staff of Seeds of Change, and got into the bus. We only made one stop for some snacks, and back into the bus. Overall, the bus ride was three hours when we arrived. We settled into the rooms and went to lunch where we had some awesome pizza. We finished eating and got ready for the beach. We met with the sea turtle biologist and where introduced to what we will be doing and some info on the turtles. Finally, we where able to get into the water at the beach. The waves where very large so we didn't go far. We all just had fun being knocked over by the waves. After about an hour and a half, we rinsed off and got into the pool. Shortly after, we cleaned up and ate dinner, where we had chicken, rice, beans, and plantains. As it got dark, we prepared for...

Take a look at a new queen Atta cephalotes ant. She just recently came back from the nuptial flight and is now feeding on some fungus garden we got from the field. 

 After a week of hard work collecting data and analysing results, the final presentation day has come. Our students did an amazing job showing us how much they have learned. Parents will get to experience the final presentations on June 8th at 6pm in Convocation Hall at Trinity. Family and friends are invited to see their results... Everyone Is Welcome.

 We started the morning off with breakfast, as usual. We had another full day of science to wrap up our final projects. The morning was very slow. Me and my group were a little confused about our project and were trying to get back on track. We chose to sit outside and work because it was a hot day and the breeze felt wonderful. While we were hard at work, we saw a coati. Then we went to lunch and had a heart of palm casserole with grilled chicken and plantain chips. After lunch, we came back to the lab. This is where things got stressful. It turned out that we had to take more trials in the field to better support our research and there was a lot of running back-in-forth, for me especially. Around 3:40 we got a coffee and chocolate break. It was hot chocolate that didn't help me cool off, but it was so good. After our break, we went back out into the field to finish our trials. We got a lot done and were feeling a lot less stressed than before. After, we went to dinner and had som...

 The Owl Butterfly, also known as the Caligo Butterfly, is a unique animal that mimic two different organisms to help keep it safe from predators. From one direction it looks like a the eyes of an owl and from the other direction, it looks like the mouth, nose and eye of a snake. The biodiversity in Costa Rica is amazing.

 Check out our students conducting gram staining for their projects. This is a valuable tool in microbiology and something that many students never have the opportunity to learn. 

 Trinity is a partner in the newly constructed research campus. The classrooms and outdoor spaces are at eye level with the rainforest canopy. Toucans, butterflies, and even howler monkeys frequently hang out right next to our students. 

 It is amazing to see the students working into the night. This group was setting up their experiments on three different Atta foraging trails. They are way more active at night... thus a great time to gather data.

     Today was a really great but tiring day, as always in Costa Rica. We started off the day bright and early at 7:30 with a ride from Anita from our dorms to the cafeteria. Everyone but Eli and Jason made it in the car because they were too slow. After breakfast, we rode on a tractor to a small town and hiked our way to a waterfall. The waterfall was so beautiful, surrounded by vines and huge rocks. We swam under the waterfall and did a canon-ball contest, which Winston won. After we left the waterfall, we met with a family who offered us juice as well as fresh bananas. On the way back, we saw so many beautiful view of the countryside as well as the rainforest. After lunch, we went back to our dorms and read our books and listened to music to relax. After our break, we spent the rest of the day in the lab continuing our projects. My group's project is going well, and hopefully it can make a solution for local farmers to deter ants from eating their crops. Now, here...

 So this morning we woke up very early to get breakfast at 7:15. For breakfast, we had rice and beans, an omelet, watermelon, and papaya. For drinks we had the option of water, coffee, and a strawberry banana juice mixture. After everyone ate breakfast and got their laundry situation settled, we got in our van and departed to  Santa Maria Volcano Tours to begin our tour on horseback. Mostly everyone had pretty tame horses. On our ride, we saw the clouds coming in over the mountains, crazy colored bark on the big trees, wooded trail like areas, cows, and 2 different types of cows. We saw Broma cows and holstein cows. After we left our ride at Santa Maria, we arrived in town. While we were in town, Mr. Castro, the retired mayor, told us about the history of the town and who all founded the town. His father was a big feature of founding Columbia de Liberty. After Mr. Castro ran us through the history, we were handed and map for a scavenger hunt of the town. The scavenger hunt was...

 This is Evie. She is a rising Jr. at Assumption High School in Louisville, KY. Her group is working on disrupting Atta cephalotes foraging trail pheromones. Amazing work.