Name: Dave Stone

Amount Requested: $350

Time Frame: June 17-27, 2007

One Sentence Description of Planned Use of Funds:
Requested Stoddard funds will be used to pay for tips (estimated at about $200 by the EcoTeach organization), two 1 GB camera memory cards, and educational materials I will bring back from the various locations we will experience during the trip to Costa Rica.

Narrative Description:
I will be taking a group of 22 students and a parent chaperone to Costa Rica to work on several conservation projects. Much of our time will be spent working on a sea turtle conservation project on the Caribbean coast. During the day students will visit a cloud forest, experiencing rainforest biology on elevated walkways through the forest canopy. During the evenings we will patrol the beach in search of nesting sea turtles and hatchlings. Students will also be involved in conducting population studies, tagging turtles, transplanting eggs to a protected area, and releasing hatchlings into the ocean. During the day, we will explore the local canals for wildlife, hike in the surrounding rain forest and be involved in volunteer activities including building a hatchery and cleaning the beach of debris to make it easier for sea turtles to nest or return to the ocean. We will then move to the northern lowlands where students will visit several Costa Rican organic farms and the Arenal volcano. We will follow this up by spending a day involved in reforestation efforts while learning firsthand about rural Costa Rican life as we spend spend the night with several local families. The trip will culminate with a visit to a macaw project where scientists are working to increase the number of scarlet macaws as well as protect them from poaching.

The EcoTeach organization will cover most of my costs (travel medical policy, exit taxes, meals, housing, all transportation, trip delay insurance, baggage loss and partial trip cancellation insurance). Requested Stoddard funds will be used to pay for tips (estimated at about $200 by the EcoTeach organization), two 1 GB camera memory cards, and educational materials I will bring back from the various locations we will experience during the trip to Costa Rica. Additional information regarding this trip can be found at http://www.ecoteach.com/2007/uni.htm . Copies of the parental information sheet that I distributed during the January 17, 2007 informational meeting can be accessed at http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~stone2/costa_rica_info.html .

This proposal meets the second goal of the fund as outlined in the Stoddard Faculty Support Endowment Fund Gift Agreement: 2) Support for Uni High faculty members to explore new dimensions in writing, travel, or technology, and to broaden cross-disciplinary curricular initiatives as they relate to their teaching.