July 17- Day 3: First Years

Hey Everyone!

We started out our day with science. Instead of spending time in a classroom we got firsthand experience through digging up leaf cutter ant colonies.  When we visited a large colony we were able to see the soldier ants (pictured below) we had learned about before coming to Costa Rica when we disturbed the nest.

Next we headed to find smaller colonies to collect for our experiments. The first excavation was unsuccessful because the nest had relocated deeper into the mud due to construction.

 The next nest was smaller and we were able to successfully remove the fungus garden and queen. We collected it in tupperware containers and brought it back to the classroom.

 After lunch we took a ride in the tractor (#$wagTer) halfway to the river. It poured the whole ride, both rain and insects (which most people, except Bridget, were unhappy about). The rest of the way we had to hike down. The path was flooded and muddy making it extremely slippery. We could've floated down the path if we had inner tubes. We also heard Howler Monkeys (though sadly we didn't see any), which was a unique a experience for us.

 After the long hike down we swam in the river. Afterwards we were forced to hike back up the slippery path. When we finished everyone was covered in mud and dirt.

Following dinner we had the opportunity to go on a night hike. We saw many insects, bats, and amphibians, including the large wolf spider pictured below. We also saw a praying mantis, which was a new experience for many of us.

Overall, we had an eventful yet exhausting day. We had firsthand experience digging up ant colonies, allowing us to learn a lot.The river and night hike were tiring yet rewarding. We are looking forward to the rest of the trip and finally starting experiments tomorrow!

                                   ~Karin and McKenna

July 16- Day 2: First Years

Hey Everyone!

Today was a great experience where we were introduced to the week ahead of us, and it sounds intriguing! Right to start off the day, we found these bugs with giant mandibles that we thought was very unique. No one would pick the scary bugs up, except brave Bridget... who actually thinks they are cute.            

In the morning, our group discussed tropical ecology and we learned a lot of information, especially new details about fungus. We can already tell this trip is going to be very educational. We were also assigned our groups for our experiments with the "Atta" ants.

Today we also learned a lot about the Costa Rican culture and lifestyle. To start this off, we went a tour of Finca La Anita (the farm we are staying at). We started the adventure in a tractor ride due to the rain this morning, but unfortunately, the tractor broke down. But, don't worry! It started up again after a little while. During the farm tour, we saw many of the different types of vegetation they grow here. The most interesting to us was the cacao trees, which is used to make the most delicious dark chocolate that we have ever tried. Finca La Anita makes the chocolate themselves.

After this, we went into the village near the farm and first grabbed some homemade ice cream at a little house. It was so cold our hands froze, but worth it for the taste and it was very refreshing. When we walked around the village, we saw the cute, little school house and a store called La Poperia. At the store, many of us bought refreshments and something to eat. We tried these yummy miniature cakes they sold (some Costa Rican name we don't remember).

A couple hours later, after we came back, we hiked on a path in part of the forest. Here we saw many birds that we have never seen before in Minnesota (mainly because they don't exist in back home). We also could hear toucan calls, which we have never heard before.

At the end of the day, we are all exhausted from the eventful day. But, we can tell the trip is going to be an experience of a lifetime.

-Adalee and Carlie

July 16, 2014: Day 2- Second Years

Hello everyone! I think it is safe to say that our second day in Costa Rica was just as fun as our first (probably more for that matter).

After all of our work in the spring leading up to this trip, we were all very excited to start working on our research projects. This morning we worked on some computer programming on a website called Rosalind (Yes, named for the true discoverer of DNA, Rosalind Franklin). We worked in a language called Python, which is primarily used for looking at massive gene sequences and focusing in on specific areas. None of us have had a lot of computer programming experience, so this was definitely a challenge for us. We had laughs and tears (mostly those), but we managed to make it through. Our bioinformatics teacher, Gabriel Vargas, arrived at about 11:30 this morning to take over. After lunch, we sat down and learned what was in store for us the next seven days. Each of us are going to design a research question that we can research using the internet data base IMG. We can look at a specific bacteria, environment, or even something else and  see if IMG has a metagenome available for us to use in our research. One thing that we can do on IMG is compare the proteins in one metagenome to the proteins in another and see if they are similar, or if they are not. I'm sure as the week continues we will learn a lot more about how to use IMG and think of some great projects. Right now we are all really pumped to brainstorm ideas, so I'll leave it at this!

Also Allie stepped on a bullet ant. You can guess from it's name how much that hurt.

-Meghan  (with some side comments from everyone else)

July 15: Day 1

Hello everyone! We have all made it safely to Finca La Anita in Colonia Libertad, Costa Rica. For the first time in four years, everyone was on time to the airport this morning, making Mrs. Leland very happy. We now have been awake for about 19 hours, so we would like to apologize in advance for anything less than intelligent in this blog post. The flight was pretty uneventful, besides the exciting pre-rainforest packets that we received. They were helpful review for all of us who may have been slightly rusty since the last meeting. Once we arrived and endured customs, we went to a restaurant in Liberia called El Torro Negro (The Black Bull). The second year students were excited both to eat (finally) and see their friend from last year Senor Grande (Dr. Andrew Bouwma).

 

Next, we headed off to the farm. The road was long and bumpy, but when we finally arrived, it was well worth the time spent traveling. We settled into cabins, and some people even went on a nature hike. We are a bit tired from our early morning, so that's all for now.

-Meghan, Anna, and The Claudster