TITLE---[ Volunteer Field Opportunity ]
AUTHOR---[ ]
SUBTITLE---[ ]
VOLUME---[ 3 ]
NUMBER---[ 1 ]
ISSUE---[ MARCH ]
YEAR---[1986 ]
START PAGE--[ 4 ]
END PAGE---[ 4 ]
AREA---[ ARTICLE ]

Volunteer Field Opportunity

Dr. Ted Fleming, BCI member and biologist at the University of Miami, has studied the complex interactions between plants and animals and the role of bats in Costa Rican rain forest dynamics for 15 years. This year at the Finca La Selva research station he will focus on three of La Selva's 63 species of bats and their role in the life cycle of several species of Piper shrub. An understanding of La Selva's ecology, Fleming says, could lead to a greater understanding of rain forests in general, contributing to the ultimate preservation of this severely endangered habitat.

His work will be sponsored by EARTHWATCH, a non-profit organization that recruits volunteers to share the cost and labor of field research. In Fleming's project, titled "Bat Strategies," volunteers will help with mist-netting to capture bats at night, harmlessly tag them, attach radio collars and track the bats to their roosts. Plants on which they feed will be catalogued by day.

Share of costs, transportation and meals are fully tax-deductible. For information on how you can volunteer for this project, contact: EARTHWATCH, 10 Juniper Road, Box 127N, Belmont, MA 02178 or call 617489-3030. Four two-week teams will depart for the field from June 1 through July 13.

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