As I’m finishing up my first week studying abroad in Costa Rica, I’ve collected valuable realizations and lessons about living in such close proximity with a highly preserved environment. The La Selva Biological Station is beautiful, and the biodiversity here would leave even a seasoned biologist in awe (see below for some featured subjects). Our local tour guides are kind people, and show immense appreciation for the environment in all its forms. My peers and professors share a genuine enthusiasm for the natural world, and getting to know them during our first week in the tropics has been a wonderful experience. However, despite all its resplendences, studying abroad in Costa Rica came with numerous reality checks that I found myself struggling to come to terms with.
I’m not an avid enthusiast for many outdoor activities, even considering my affinity for the natural sciences academically. With our first stop being the La Selva Biological Station, the area that is one of, if not the most immersive rainforest experiences on this trip, the first few days after arrival felt like the opposite of the pura vida lifestyle that so many travelers preach about. While some might relish in the total consummation of their body in nature, I definitely found myself struggling to embrace it quite as much. As Henry David Thoreau writes, “am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?”. I began internalizing this more as I realized my towels and clothes would never truly dry in the Costa Rican humidity. My preconceptions about the conducting field research here simply did not amount to the number of mental hurdles I had to adjust to first.
Though the hikes we went on at La Selva lasted 2-3 hours, we would travel at a pace slower than walking, making frequent stops to carefully observe the teeming wildlife. Within two minutes of the first hike, a bright red poison dart frog hopped exceedingly near the pavement where our group was standing. At the next moment, we saw toucans fly into a nearby tree, followed by a kurassow that strutted across the stretch of trail we walked on. I was amazed at the accessibility of the fauna we saw, and their lack of instinct to flee in our presence. During the night, the forest was alive, yet exceedingly peaceful. The calls of the frogs and insects were a rhythmic, constant drone – much like one of the ambient recordings people use to aid them in falling asleep. These new experiences felt very transitory, like I would wake up the next morning back in my own bed.
Daily life in Costa Rica was a stark contrast from living in a society epitomizing the work hard, play hard mindset. However, with as many difficulties as I had assimilating to the new lifestyle, I gained just as many valuable experiences and perspectives. As a student that is chronically online with many digital hobbies, I consume a staggering amount of overstimulating media. I grew to appreciate the spotty cell signal at La Selva, which prevented me from constantly checking in on what strangers and acquaintances were getting up to back home.
I am excited to begin working on my independent research project, which will focus on lichen biodiversity as an indicator of anthropogenic air pollution. While my interests primarily lie in studying microbial communities, I was led towards this topic since lichens are a symbioses between algae, fungi, and internal bacterial species. As I settled on studying lichens for my project, my first worry was my inability to find enough lichen colonies to examine. We had gone on three relatively long hikes, yet the biodiversity of lichens of otherworldly appearance I had read about online was absent from my memory. On the next time we set out into the forest, I made a conscious decisions to take pictures of every lichen I came across. By the end of the next excursion, I had photographed a handful of samples – more than I was expecting, yet less than what was promised by textbooks. After additional research, it was clear that the rare biosphere was at work. Not only were many lichens exclusively arboreal, but they also required highly specialized conditions in order to flourish, decreasing their frequency in the readily noticeable environment. To me, this highlighted how easily one may begin noticing things once they start looking for them, but the full extent of that being considered becomes inaccessible without special means to observe them. These means may come with financial investment in equipment and education, but it was evident that the La Selva staff also harbored this knowledge due to extensive immersion in the natural world. The results of time spent engaged so intensely in the flora and fauna for so long manifested itself clearly in the primary accounts of ecological researchers and locals.
Listening to my peers’ proposal ideas reminded me of the motto of IU’s Liberal Arts & Management Program I am a member of – “one perspective is never enough”. I had expected this program to primarily attract students in either the hard natural sciences, or in environmental policy. I was surprised to learn that a variety of students from broad disciplines were on the trip, and sharing our proposal provided a prime opportunity for learning about their affinities and backgrounds. I expect to learn a lot from others on this trip, as well as from myself. It is in new environments where our predispositions are broken, and our adaptability is strengthened. After spending so much time indoors during the school year, this trip has felt like a reaffirmation of my connection with the natural world. I do not regret my choice to participate in this program, and it felt much needed after putting into perspective the “hyper urban” quality of my usual lifestyle. Excited for what’s to come!
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