Welcome to La Suerte! This course will combine a series of lectures and discussions on entomology with specific reference to tropical ecology.   The course philosophy is centered on field experiences within the tropical rainforest environment.  In addition to training in entomological methods and ecological data collection techniques, you will also be given a brief overview of various arthropod groups that are commonly found within the tropical forest habitat.

Although the course will be focused on the field experiences, other components will include both lectures and laboratory time spent identifying the specimens that you have collected. The fieldwork will include both terrestrial and aquatic.  If at all possible we will do some aerial sampling as well.  This part of the course will give you an overview of the invertebrate diversity found within the forest.

Students will conduct small, original, independent research projects that will include use of a large part of the forests and there resources.  Although the projects will be individual research efforts, team work is encouraged.  I will provide mentorship and assistance as needed.  Toward the end of the course students will be expected to give an oral presentation of their projects.
 
Some time for breaks is incorporated into the course schedule, and can be varied based on the needs of the current cohort of students.

Assessment/ Grading
Your final grade/mark will be based on the following, and determined out of a total of 100 points:
• field and Lab exercises (25 points) – 25%
• a written report of your project (50 points) – 50%
• an oral presentation of the project (25 points) – 25%
Coursework marking can be moderated to accommodate non-US marking systems.

The following books are essential for supplementary understanding of entomolgy and invertebrate ecology. They should be accessible through your university bookshop, and also on the internet at www.amazon.com.
With several of the exercises Southwood (1978) and Sutherland (1997) will serve as a reference book for the field and laboratory techniques.
• Gullan, P.J. & Cranston, P.S. (1994) The Insects: An outline of Entomology
• Leather, S (ed) (2005) Insect Sampling in Forest Ecosystems.
• Speight, M.R, Hunter, M.D. & Watt, A.D. (1999) Ecology of Insects: Concepts and Applications.

Attendance is mandatory at all lectures, methodology talks and field exercises.
All full syllabus of times and dates of lectures, field work, laboratory time and projects will be available by emailing me at lbrandt@sfccmo.edu