Pictures may be worth a thousand words sometimes, but the two shared equal billing for students conducting thesis research in Costa Rica this summer.<\/p>\n
Using photography and interviews, Celia Castellano \u201919 and Sophia Pessagno \u201919 joined Karen Allen, professor of earth and environmental sciences, in her work involving the Bellbird Biological Corridor. Both students are investigating conservation and sustainability in communities within the corridor, which is\u00a0a designation used to promote connectivity of habitats and sustainable development across a wide region.<\/p>\n
Castellano had been to Monteverde, Costa Rica, as a tourist. But it was like visiting a new place when she returned to conduct research in the same region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was looking at it in a different light, for a different reason,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Allen is beginning her third year at Furman. She has spent more than a decade researching in Costa Rica, many of those years actually living in the country. This was her first opportunity to bring Furman students to the field with her.<\/p>\n
Allen selected team members who were\u00a0sustainability science majors from the earth and environmental sciences department for both their creative research potential and their Spanish-speaking skills. In addition to Castellano and Pessagno, she also brought field assistant Daniel Bernal \u201921.<\/p>\n
The team worked primarily in two communities within the Bellbird Biological Corridor.\u00a0Most of the more than 40 corridors in Costa Rica contain a range of mixed-use land. Some also encompass destinations for nature, adventure and eco-tourism, such as Monteverde\u2019s Cloud Forest in Bellbird.<\/p>\n
While the corridors exist on paper, their infrastructure is skeletal. The goal is for corridor leadership to partner with existing local organizations on conservation initiatives that will impact the entire corridor.<\/p>\n
Allen\u2019s work plays a role in that. This summer she conducted workshops to provide education about the corridor\u2019s objectives and how those fit within each community\u2019s priorities \u2013 \u201cquite literally, connecting people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her students\u2019 summer research will help define the priorities and concerns within the communities they investigated.<\/p>\n
Castellano used a methodology called photo voice. She gave people cameras to capture answers to her questions: How are you personally connected to the environment? What conservation efforts are you part of? What environmental changes have you seen within your lifetime? When they came back with photos, she interviewed them about how each photo provided an answer.<\/p>\n
Pessagno, who is fluent in Spanish, worked through more formal interviews with leaders of community organizations, asking questions about conservation plans within the organizations and contact with other groups within the corridor. Some conversations lasted five minutes, others went as along as 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
Back at Furman, both students used software to help identify repetitions, contrasts and themes in the answers. Together, the projects help tell a more complete story of the corridor.<\/p>\n
Pessagno enjoyed the personal side of the research.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked that it was more human-centered,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
And Castellano found the work fit perfectly with her naturally social personality.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good characteristic in someone who does social science research,\u201d said Allen, who wants her students to view the work as more than data collection.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s committed to research that values local input and furthers the vision of the communities involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to acknowledge their participation in the research,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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