About the Project

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides funding via the International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program to allow U.S. science and engineering students the opportunity to conduct research in an international setting. This project will provide 18 engineering and anthropology students the opportunity to develop global and interdisciplinary skills and competencies through cross-training and multidisciplinary field work in Costa Rica. Six students will participate each summer in 2024, 2025, and 2026. Specifically, students will quantify the social, economic, and environmental impacts and benefits of waste treatment and integrated resource recovery.

The summer research experience will take place in Monteverde, a small Costa Rican community dependent on ecotourism. About three hours away from the capital of San Jose, this community is considered as the country's role model for sustainability and ecotourism. The region includes multiple cloud forest reserves where over 200,000 annual tourists participate in activities like ziplining and hiking. Monteverde is home to over 755 tree species, 658 butterfly species, 425 bird species, and 180 mammals and reptiles. 

In addition to research, cultural activities may include hikes in the cloud forest, tours of coffee farms, visits to museums, and trips to the beach. Students will also learn the Costa Rican culture by staying with a local host family. This five-minute video provides an overview of a similar experience in Costa Rica in 2013. 

The town of San Luis in the Monteverde region largely relies upon ecotourism and subsistence farming

•Project duration: 3 years (Aug 1, 2023-July 31, 2026)

•Six students each year from:

    • West Virginia University (graduate and undergraduate students in environmental engineering)

    • University of South Florida (graduate students in anthropology)

    •California State University, Chico (undergraduate students in environmental engineering)

•Six-week summer research experience

    •Year 1: Summer of 2024

    •Year 2: Summer of 2025

    •Year 3: Summer of 2026