[PCA] EDUCATION: Costa Rican Bryology! (fwd)

[Olivia Kwong]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
The Jepson Herbarium Public Education Program presents

An Opportunity to Study Tropical Bryophytes at Nectandra Cloud Forest in 
Costa Rica, with Dan Norris

March 11-22, 2010

About the Course
Tropical Bryology will be taught at the Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden, a 
Biological Preserve dedicated to the conservation of montane cloud forest. 
This preserve protects about 175 acres of pristine, primary cloud forest 
near San Ramon in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica (see: 
http://www.nectandra.org/index.htm).

The goal of the course is to prepare participants to do field recognition 
of the major genera of mosses, liverworts and hornworts of the Costa Rican 
cloud forest.  Skills in laboratory identification to species are also 
predicted. Field collecting trips will take us to all parts of the 
Nectandra Forest.  There are about 5 miles of excellent and easy trails on 
the Nectandra forest from which we will begin our studies, and by 
mid-course we will survey high elevation lands within only a few hours 
drive.  There will be at least one field trip to high elevations.

Participants in the course will work with completed keys written by Norris 
for the liverworts, hornworts and mosses that he has documented for the 
Nectandra Cloud Forests.  A reference collection of identified Nectandra 
bryophytes will be available for comparison. Appropriate additional 
literature will be available in the laboratory.  There is an excellent 
catalogue of the biota of the forest with special coverage of ferns and 
vascular plants.  Arrayed along the trails of the Nectandra forest are 
signposts with identification of nearly 100 species of vascular plants, 
mostly trees.  Participants will be introduced to the vascular plants of 
Nectandra the first morning of the workshop.

The trip is planned for March 11- 22, 2010 to take advantage of the dry 
season and for those in academia - spring break! All seasons have pleasant 
temperatures that range primarily in the 60 's to 70's F.  Because a trip 
to distant Costa Rica should be of sufficient duration to allow serious 
learning, we scheduled 11 days for the course with 2 free days inserted so 
that each 3 planned days of study are followed by a free day.   The price 
of the class will be $1700 (course, lodging and meals), air-fare is an 
additional expense. Participants will fly to San Jose International 
Airport, Costa Rica.  To register interest: inform Cecile Shohet at 
cshohet at berkeley.edu.

Required text: Guide to the Bryophytes of Tropical America, by S. Robbert 
Gradstein and Steven Churchill, et al., published by the Memoirs of the 
New York Botanical Garden ($30).
To order this text:
http://www.nybgshop.org/Guide-to-the-Bryophytes-of-Tropical-America-p-18447.html

About the Instructors

The course will be taught by Dr. Dan Norris of the University Herbarium, 
UC Berkeley, with Juan Larraín, CONC Herbarium, University of Concepción, 
Chile, assisting.

Dr. Norris is the author of many journal articles in bryology with 
emphasis on taxonomy of California and Papua New Guinea mosses.  He wrote 
with Jim Shevock the keys and catalogues to the mosses of California 
(Madroño 2004), and has amplified that with a micro- photographic book on 
California mosses (with Bill and Nancy Malcolm and Jim Shevock).  In the 
neo-tropics, his publications derive from trips to Costa Rica, Ecuador, 
Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.  Dan taught annual university-level 
courses in bryology at Humboldt State University for 24 years.  He also 
has experience in teaching advanced students: thesis direction at Humboldt 
and numerous short-duration bryology courses for professional botanists 
and foresters.  His field experience in the Neo- and the Paleotropics 
included the collection of about 30,000 herbarium numbers from tropical 
areas.  Three weeks of study on the Nectandra Forest have prepared him for 
the course, as well as countless hours in his UC Berkeley lab.

Juan Larraín is a doctoral student at Universidad de Concepción, Chile, in 
his last year of study, working with the phylogeny of the moss genus 
Racomitrium and a taxonomic revision of the 20 species that grow in South 
America. He has been working on this group since 2000, and has been the 
curator of bryophytes at CONC herbarium since 2006.

Nectandra Institute Preserve

Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden, near San Ramon in Alajuela Province, Costa 
Rica (see: http://www.nectandra.org/index.htm), is the name of Nectandra 
Institute's Biological Preserve.  Their mission is to promote the 
conservation and restoration of the montane cloud forest ecosystems of 
Costa Rica through public education, scientific research, and watershed 
stewardship. The preserve is special - it is private, few people have the 
opportunity to visit and get into the "interior", as only a small portion 
of the preserve is open to the public by reservation.  It protects about 
70 hectares (175 acres) of undisturbed pristine primary cloud forest, and 
an equal amount of secondary cloud forest.  The area is ideal for 
bryologists - incredible diversity, due to the wetness and coolness of the 
climate.

Evelyne and David Lennette, originally from Berkeley, California, founded 
the Nectandra Institute for the conservation of the montane cloud forest. 
The preserve includes a meeting center and a laboratory in an otherwise 
pristine forest of about 3/4 of a square mile, to host and educate 
conservation groups. It is bounded on three sides by grazing land but it 
abuts on one side with large tracts of pristine forest.

Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden is relatively isolated, with nothing 
commercial nearby.   There is a "soda"  (local name for a eatery operated 
by 1-2 persons) 2+ mi down the road, but that is it.  Telecommunication 
from the garden is almost non-existent. There are no phone lines; cell 
phones work from few spots, infrequently - when one has access to Costa 
Rican cell phone service.  There are no public health concerns to be aware 
of when traveling to Costa Rica.

Accomodations

We will be staying at a special spot - Arturo's Casa Angeles Bed & 
Breakfast, which has a 270 degree view - from which you can see the nearby 
volcano, Arenal; as well as the Pacific Ocean in the distance.   It is 7 
kilometers from the bed and breakfast to the Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden 
Preserve (where class will be held). Arturo's is by far the closest and 
most comfortable place to stay in the area.  Most importantly, it is 
hosted by Costa Ricans, which will allow for after class social mingling 
among the participants and the Tico (local word for Costa Rican) hosts, in 
a relatively homey atmosphere.  There are three large bedrooms with 
private baths (that can accommodate up to 4 each) and 4 smaller rooms for 
2 persons each (one with private bath and the other three share a bath). 
The rooms are all different, with individualized furnishing.  There is 
limited wireless Internet access - which is good for emailing but of 
limited strength for quick web browsing).  There is a public bus stop in 
front of the B&B if anyone wants to go off on their own.  Taxi service is 
plentiful and quite inexpensive (e.g. about $8 - 9 per trip to San Ramon 
for a 7 km ride). If shared 3 ways, taxis are almost as cheap as buses.

The food will be delicious - prepared by a local caterer, and will be 
authentic Costa Rican cuisine.

Classroom

The class will be held in the Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden, in a meeting 
room that is about 700 sq ft large, equipped with flat screen and/or 
digital projection for power point presentations.  There will be both 
dissecting and compound microscopes available, one set for every 2 
participants.  If you feel the need to have your own scope(s) or want 
something with special optics - please feel free to bring personal 
microscope with you.  We also have an additional 700 sq ft of semi open 
space (i.e. roofed but not walled) with electrical outlets.

For more information, please contact:
Staci Markos
<smarkos at berkeley.edu>
(510) 643-7008