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Exploring Biodiversity Abroad
Students Live as Field Scientists in Costa Rica by Elizabeth Dallara ’17 and Annie McConnon ’17
Landscape in Guayabo, Costa Rica
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AGNES IRWIN MAGAZINE
FALL 2015
Local store in Sierpe, Costa Rica
tists. We traveled for three weeks and visited five regions along the west coast: San José, Corcovado, Isla Chira, Guayabo and Monteverde. This unique learning experience provided us with the opportunity to open our eyes to things we could have never seen in a classroom. From studying the habitats of tarantulas and crocodiles to testing the waters of ecotourism by snorkeling and river tubing, we were able to immerse ourselves in the ecosystems of Costa Rica, studying and analyzing the aspects that make it one of the most environmentally-friendly countries on the planet. One of the most meaningful and distinctive parts of our journey was on Isla Chira, where we focused on women in conservation and the crucial role that they play in Chira’s society. We listened to the Damas de Chira as they explained how difficult it was to overcome gender inequity when forming their organization, La Amistad, which is dedicated to rural tourism. After hearing the inspiring words of these women and visiting the Artisans Core, we learned that it is women who run the island. Being students at Agnes Irwin, this was the part of the trip that had the biggest impact on us as a whole. The women of Chira are people whom we as
ANNIE MCCONNON
e were both very intrigued when we discovered that Agnes Irwin was offering a summer trip to Costa Rica to study biodiversity, sustainability and conservation. Neither of us really had any experience traveling out of the country before and thought it would be a great experience to try something new and exciting. We were hoping to expand upon what we learned about biodiversity in the classroom and immerse ourselves in the culture of a country so different from our own. The two of us, as well as junior Maya Brown-Hunt and seniors Teagan Aguirre and Jaakirah Reid, were accompanied by physical education teacher Abbey Kelley, and set out on the adventure of a lifetime. Our trip was sponsored by a high school study abroad program, Council on International Educational Exchange, or CIEE. This program is a nonprofit organization that promotes international education and exchange among different groups of people. We traveled with four other all-girls’ schools from different parts of the United States, giving us the opportunity to make new friends from across the country. Costa Rica, one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, was the perfect place to live as field scien-