Lakeland College

Lakeland's tropical studies course is an advanced, four-credit, May Term course on tropical forest and coral reef ecology that takes students on a 15-day ecotour of Belize. The focus of the course is experiential learning in Belize along with formal lectures by both the Lakeland instructors and faculty on site in Belize.

BIO 400 is designed to explore the fundamental properties of both terrestrial and marine habitats in the tropics with an emphasis placed on research projects conceptualized and carried out by students in a lowland tropical rainforest. The logistics of the Belize portion of the course are handled by the Belize Foundation for Research & Environmental Education (BFREE) and several, mandatory, pre-May term meetings during the spring semester are scheduled to prepare for the course.

Applications for the tropical studies program are due at the end of the Fall semester of odd numbered years and the course occurs during the May Terms of even numbered years. The course is designed for biology, chemistry, biochemistry or secondary education, science majors who have completed BIO 350 General Ecology or who have consent from the instructors.

Cost

The May 2012 tropical ecology course student fees were $2,650 per student before fund raising efforts so students generally paid less than that amount. The above cost is all inclusive (airfare, all meals, lodging, in-country transportation, etc.). The fee does not include souvenirs, any alcoholic purchases, or telephone cards for calls back to the U.S.

For more information please contact: Dr. Paul C. Pickhardt, associate professor of biology, at (920) 565-1406 or pickhardtp@lakeland.edu or Dr. Greg Smith, associate professor of biology, at (920) 565-1575 or smithgr@lakeland.edu.