Summit High School biology teacher Marty Stickle has travelled extensively in the rainforests of Central and South America since 1990. In 1992 he began taking students to Central America for rainforest experiences. This year’s trip explores the northern areas of Costa Rica, including several days on the Pacific coast studying the giant loggerhead turtles as they come ashore to lay their eggs and the nearby coastal lowland rainforest. Later the students will travel north to the Santa Rosa National Park where they will experience one of the most endangered habitats in the world, the tropical dry forest. Their final study area is on the slopes of the volcano Rincon de la Vieja. This volcano is active and, in fact, erupted February 16, 1998. The slopes of the volcano are covered with montane tropical forest and there are scattered thermal areas of geysers, hot springs and mud-pots. The student trip begins and ends in the central plateau of Costa Rica at 4000 ft. elevation in the capital city of San Jose.

You can find reactions from students on previous trips in the Teacher’s Guide or online. But this year, for the first time, they’ll be packing laptops and a digital camera, and sending back Journals and images whenever they can find a working Phone connection. They were actually in the field at the time of the second live program... but some of the students and Marty were back in the U.S. and down in Washington, D.C., for April 21—answering e-mail questions during the 3rd live program alongside the Smithsonian researchers.

Thanks to the Summit school district and High School for the loan of computer and PhotograPhic equipment, and Costa Rica Expeditions and their internet provider, Inter@merica, for connectivity in Costa Rica.