Latest Research Projects
Our current projects include feline monitoring, canopy exploration, butterfly identification, reforestation efforts, amphibian density census, and endangered bird monitoring.
Rainforest Feline Monitoring Project
Begun in March 2012, students, volunteers and interns have visited our research station to assist in a long-term feline monitoring project. This includes photo identification of species captured on infrared game cameras, creating and monitoring track pads, and creating print casts. All data collected from this project will be open for use by other reserves and conservation groups throughout Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. This project is also part of a comprehensive species census of Aula Global.
Cat species big and small are in serious decline globally and more data is needed regarding the needs, movements, and densities of cats throughout the tropics. In the last five decades deforestation and development have radically changed the landscape, splintering prime feline habitat into small fragments. Recent data has proven many of these cat species can and do travel between these islands, using existing corridors, forest fragments, road ways and ranchland. More data is needed to fully understand where and how these elusive cats are traveling, and where we can act to best preserve them.
Since March 2012, The Feline Monitoring Project has hosted researchers visiting from the Big Cat Research Project (conducted in South Africa since 2009) sharing their extensive knowledge on cat behavior, tracking techniques and wilderness skills. Volunteers and interns are needed for this ongoing project. Please contact us if you would like to participate in this program.
Creating a New Generation of Earth Stewards
Global Classroom volunteers donate thousands of hours to hundreds of students
annually in an effort to foster a greater sense of awareness in young adults to the plight of the planet while creating a steady pool of Earth Stewards willing and ready to enter the world of conservation.
If you would like to get your school or university involved in tropical rainforest research at Aula Global, we would be happy to discuss possibilities. Contact us for more information!