Dr. Ignacio Moore (BIOL) and Dr. William Hopkins (FWC) are offering “Tropical Ecology & Conservation BIOL 3954/FIW 3954 (6 credits)” in Spring and Summer I 2016. The course is open to all majors. The Spring course will be taught on campus.

During Summer I, the class will travel to Ecuador where students will traverse multiple ecosystems, from the Amazonian lowland rainforest to the high altitude Andes. Students will visit one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, and visit with local indigenous people to learn about conservation challenges in the region. The course is reading- and writing-intensive, physically demanding, includes an independent research project (*includes proposal writing and scientific research paper writing), and requires enrollment during both semesters. The last time we taught the class, one of the undergrads published a peer-reviewed paper on her findings.

Enrollment is limited and formal application procedures can be obtained now from itmoore@vt.edu or hopkinsw@vt.edu.

Link to 2012 VT News story: Undergraduate researchers study poison dart frogs and more in Ecuadorian jungle