University of Wisconsin–Madison

Costa Rica: Lindsay Pfeiffer

Program: UW Banking Animal Biodiversity in Costa Rica, Spring Break

Majors: Animal and Veterinary Biosciences; Conservation Biology

Describe your internship, research, or fieldwork and how the experience helped advance your career or studies.

We did a lot of hiking, and observing the biodiversity in three different ecosystems. We were at research stations at each location, and we learned a lot about the research going on. Some activities included carbon dating trees, species identification, and painting a community center. It was amazing to see the conservation efforts and biodiversity first-hand, and it gave me an appreciation for biodiversity I will carry into my future career.

Five students posed in front of a large tree in a wet, verdant forest.
This was on a hike to see the continental divide in Monteverde.

What challenges or barriers did you face as you prepared to go abroad and/or during your time abroad? How did you work through them?

I have a lot of travel anxiety, so I was pretty nervous to be going to a new country and flying alone. However, the entire group was very welcoming. Our program leaders were on site with us at all times, and we had a group chat where we could communicate in the airports, too. This is a great program if you’re looking for something shorter and working up the courage to go abroad.

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It was amazing to see the conservation efforts and biodiversity first-hand, and it gave me an appreciation for biodiversity I will carry into my future career.

What is your most memorable experience from your program?

We saw multiple endangered Great Green Macaws, which I didn’t expect at all, and it was a very special moment.

Fifteen individuals posing in front of a van covered with paintings of monkeys, sloths, and birds, and the text "Freedom bus".
This was at ZooAve, a rescue in San Jose. We saw a lot of different species and learnt about why they couldn’t be released back into the wild.

What is your advice for someone considering your program?

Go for it! This was truly such an adventure, and I learnt so much about conservation and biodiversity. It is so different to see what we learn about in conservation classes at UW-Madison first-hand, rather than just seeing pictures of it.