Location & Schedule

Location - Program Sites

Atlantic Coastal Forest - Cardoso Island
WORDS (Language Institute) and Homestays - Curitiba
Atlantic Coastal Forest - Salto Morato Reserve, Guaraqueçaba
Itaipú Hydroelectric Dam and Reservoir, Iguaçu National Park System - Foz de Iguaçu
Cultural Icon of Northern Brazil - Salvador, Bahia
Cerrado Biome and Reserve Policy- Brasilia
Amazon Rain Forest - Extractive Reserves, Santarém
Mil Madeireira - Manaus
Pantanal Wetland Habitat - Pantanal

Atlantic Coastal Forest - Cardoso Island

Anchieta Island is a 15,000 ha protected park with terrain reaching over 800m in elevation. It is located off the coast of the state of São Paulo, and forms a remnant patch of the highly endangered Atlantic Forest. Conservation biologists from São Paulo State University give field instruction on the ecology of plant communities found along an elevational gradient from mangroves up to pre-montane rainforest, and teach census methods used to monitor threatened populatins of birds and mammals. 

WORDS (Language Institute) and Homestays - Curitiba

Curitiba, the capital of the State of Paraná, is a medium-size city of 1.5 million inhabitants. It is home to three universities—Pontifical Catholic University, the University of Paraná, and Tuiuti University of Paraná—and is known for its environmentally progressive urban planning and resource management policies. Professional language instruction at WORDS delivers full days of Portuguese lessons. A short-term homestay with Brazilian families provides a warm introduction to Brazilian culture and social traditions.

Atlantic Coastal Forest - Salto Morato Reserve

The Salto Morato Reserve protects 1700ha of Atlantic Coastal Forest in the coastal Guaraqueçaba region of the state of Paraná. Founded and financially supported by the large Brazilian cosmetics company, O Boticario, the reserve is a promising model of corporate commitment to conservation. Maintenance of the reserve is additionally supported by The Nature Conservancy and the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation. Plant ecologists from the University of Paraná work with students in ongoing studies of managed secondary succession in areas previously farmed, and an ornithologist leads the group in classifying seed dispersal agents.

Itaipú Hydroelectric Dam and Reservoir, Iguaçu National Park System

Located just north of the Iguaçu Falls on the Paraná River, the Itaipú Dam is enormous in terms of its size, the electrical power generated, and the resultant disturbance to the Paraná River Basin. A public relations associate provides a tour of dam operations. Research associates introduce the group to plans for establishing corridors to link the area’s forest patches. A half of a million acres of subtropical, semidecidous broadleaf forest straddles the Brazilian-Argentine border and is under National Park protection in both countries. Meetings with each country’s Park Director enable a comparison of management strategies.

Salvador, Bahia - Cultural Icon

The capital of the state of Bahia, Salvador, is an important commercial port serving eastern Brazil, and a popular tourist destination. It is a city rich in cultural traditions of Afro-Brazilians and in historical evidence of its 16th century roots as a Portuguese colony. The colorful cultural environment serves as a provocative backdrop for structured discussions about the students' cross-cultural experience.

Cerrado Biome and Resource Policy - Brasilia

Cerrado vegetation (neotropical savanna) occupies a substantial portion of Brazil, and is rapidly undergoing conversion to cultivation. The group explores cerrado habitats in their natural state and conducts independent research on cerrado ecology. The class also meets with top representatives of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), headquartered in the capital city of Brasilia, to discuss federal environmental policy.

Amazon RainForest - Sustainable Development, Santarém

The city of Santarém is located on the Amazon River midway between Manaus and Belem. The rainforest in this area of the Amazon is undergoing rapid conversion to large-scale monoculture soybean crops. There is also mounting pressure to pave a highway bisecting rainforest to support this expansion of soy production. Students explore the environmental costs and socioeconomic impacts of these controversial developments with local community leaders. Participants also visit a community agroforestry project to look at how rural manioc farmers traditionally work their land.

Mil Madeireira - Manaus

The group visits a privately owned forest tract of 80,000 ha in the Brazilian Amazon where reduced impact logging is conducted. Researchers from the National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA) lead the group in studying the impacts of this particular approach to timber harvesting. Additionally, tree felling and skidding are demonstrated, and the company’s Forest Stewardship Council certification is examined and discussed.

Pantanal Wetland Habitat

The Pantanal is a wetland that covers an area the size of South Dakota, spanning southwestern Brazil, and bordering Bolivia and Paraguay. This vast, nutrient-rich system supports an abundance of wildlife. The integrity of the ecosystem is threatened by a host of human activities, and the complex water cycles are destined to be disrupted by a planned shipping channel. Biologists from the University of Mato Grosso conduct class activities that underscore the wetland's functional significance, and direct discussions on protection and management.

Schedule

• Orientation in Key Largo, Florida
• Atlantic Coastal Forest ecology, ornithology, mammalogy, botany and plant-animal mutualisms
  Cardoso Island, São Paulo
• Intensive Portuguese language instruction, Brazilian culture
  Curitiba, Paraná
• Plant community ecology, restoration ecology, avian guild ecology, keystone species' management
  Guaraqueçaba, Paraná
• Energy resource issues, consequences of hydroelectric dams, park management strategies, landscape disturbances and corridors
  Foz do Iguaçu, Pará
• Group analysis of cross-cultural experience
  Salvador, Bahia
• Amazonian rain forest ecology, ecosystem fragmentation, nature reserve design and logging and sustainability
  Manaus, Pará
• Land use management practices, sustainable development, environmental policy
  Santarém, Pará
• Environmental law and policy with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), cerrado ecology and independent field research
  Brasilia, D.F. (Federal District)
• Wetland ornithology, landscape ecology, plant community ecology and ecosystem disturbance
  Pantanal, Mato Grosso

                  Please Note: The length of time spent at each site varies from year to year.