The "Manu Ethnobotany, Tropical Ecology and Conservation Anthropology Course" was designed to train young scientists with a unique blend of skills necessary to carry out ethnobotanical, ecological and community-based conservation research with traditional forest peoples of the Amazon.
The program immersed participants in the tropical rainforest and the indigenous peoples of Manu National Park, providing hands-on training opportunities with experienced scientists and native research collaborators.
Course topics include overview of indigenous Amazonian cosmologies and ecological world view, special topics in indigenous ethnobotany and traditional healing, theory and methods in ethnobiology, introduction to the Matsigenka language, overview and special topics in tropical ecology, biodiversity and conservation, conservation anthropology, and field identification of tropical plant families.
In October and November, 2007, eleven students from Connecticut College's SATA Peru Program spent 30 days in and around Manu National Park studying and carrying out mentored research projects with ethnobotanists/anthropologists Glenn Shepard (University of East Anglia, UK) and Manuel Lizarralde (Connecticut College) and tropical ecologist Varun Swamy (Duke University). Throughout the course, students worked and interacted directly with twelve indigenous Matsigenka informants from the communities of Tayakome, Yomybato and Shipetiari.
Hands-on student research projects included: resource mapping in an indigenous community, quantitative botanical and ethnobotanical inventories of forest plots and transects, studies of ethnobotanical knowledge variation (according to age, gender, etc.) between different Matsigenka collaborators, ethnozoological classification of tropical birds, and systematic studies of indigenous knowledge about rainforest animals' ecology and diet.
Student evaluations were enthusiastic about all aspects of the course:
"This course was undoubtedly the highlight of my college experience. I consider myself fortunate to have participated in such an extraordinary program."
"The perspective that I gained on an indigenous peoples' way of life is one that very few people ever get to see and one that more people should be able to take advantage of."
"There's no doubt in my mind that the highlight for me was the time spent with the Matsigenka."
"The end result was a month of hard work, learning along the way, and the feeling that we were getting a real taste of what ethnobotanical research was all about. I would not for one second hesitate in doing this trip again and would recommend it to any student no matter what their specific interests may be."
"During this month in the rainforest, I did not feel like I was in any serious danger... I was surprised at how comfortable the accommodations were considering the environment. The staff were very professional and obviously experienced. With the help of CREES, everything seemed to run very smoothly."
"Overall, this month in the rainforest was an unforgettable experience."
Click here to see SATA Peru 2007 on the Connecticut College Website |
This specialist field course focused on a variety of Amazonian ecosystems along an altitudinal gradient from the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes to the lowlands. The main objectives of the course were to teach competency in designing and carrying out field–based investigation and familiarization with some of the key factors influencing Amazonian ecosystems. This served as the background to an examination of how elements of global change are affecting these systems. This course was primarily served 24 Latin American graduate students who work in countries bordering the Amazon. The course lasted 30 days beginning in Cusco and finishing in Puerto Maldonado.
A 9 day comprehensive field study of the ecology and culture of the lowland tropical rainforest and the highland sub-tropical cloud forest, and Machu Picchu lead by West Chester University. Students and faculty from West Chester University, a university
