Soils, Crops and Natural Resources of Costa Rica - Spring Break 2026

sfine — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 13:13:13 +0000

Coming Soon

Costa Rica

Program Director(s):

Program dates and itinerary are tentative and subject to change.

This study abroad program will explore agricultural systems, natural resources, and resource management in Costa Rica. Students will learn about the soils, crops, and environment of Costa Rica while gaining an appreciation of and respect for Costa Rican culture, the Spanish language, and Costa Rica nationalism. Stops will include interactions with many farmers who have a history with this ISU course - coffee, highland fruits, organic vegetables, sugarcane, pineapple, and spice production.

All students have the choice to enroll in either AGRON/GLOBE 4960 or JL MC 3900.

For students taking this as AGRON/GLOBE: Explore agricultural systems and tools, evaluate resource usage and strategies used for production in challenging environments.

For students taking this as Journalism and Mass Communication: Work on developing storytelling skills by blogging about agri-tourism and/or farm-to-table stories.

3 credits of AGRON 4960, GLOBE 4960, or JL MC 3900 for the spring 2026 semester

This program is typically offered every spring break. Program was last offered in spring 2024 and 2025.

Important Note Regarding Missing Classes
Please note that participation on some travel courses require you to be away from campus for some school days. The College of Agriculture & Life Sciences tries to minimize the number of days missed for this purpose, but in some events, the inflexibility of the travel schedule prevents us from working completely within our breaks. Should you choose to enroll in a travel course that requires missing some class(es) on campus, you will need to contact your instructor directly to inquire whether or not arrangements can be made to make up this class work and/or exams. The CALS �� office can provide you with a letter explaining the dates of the trip. However, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor to determine the potential impact on your grade before signing up for a �� program. The instructor is responsible for determining the impact of any absence from class.

Saturday, March 14, 2026 to Friday, March 20, 2026

Department:

Agronomy, Global Resource Systems, Journalism and Mass Communication

Type of Travel:

Travel Course

Application Deadline:

Saturday, November 1, 2025

Semester:

Spring

Learn more!

Year:

2025

Credits:

Agronomy Feature: Soils, Crops, and Natural Resources of Costa Rica ��

nicolerh — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 14:42:39 +0000

Lee Burras and Amber Anderson lead the Soils, Crops, and Natural Resources study abroad trip to Costa Rica. They recently led a group on this trip over Thanksgiving break and are gearing up to take another group over spring break. This upcoming trip will be ten days long and begin on March 9th. On this specific study abroad trip, students learn about agricultural systems, natural resources, and resource management in Costa Rica. They will get the opportunity to interact with farmers and participate in tours to coffee, highland fruits, organic vegetables, sugarcane, pineapple, and chocolate farms. Not only will these students learn about agriculture in a different country, but they will also be able to learn about the culture and language of Costa Rica.

Lee has been leading study abroad trips since 2002; since he started, he has led over 20 trips. Of course, within the past year, study abroad trips were either canceled or altered somehow. I asked Lee how the pandemic affected his most recent trip. He shared that “even with Covid19, it was very similar to past trips given our goal always includes participant health and well-being.” Going to a different country comes with challenges during a normal time which helped Lee to deal with the changes caused by the pandemic. It is always a top priority to ensure ISU faculty and students stay safe and healthy on study abroad trips. Lee shares that on the last trip, the only major changes were the mask mandates and extra travel insurance needed if one of the travelers needed to quarantine. Upon returning to the country, they had to be tested for Covid-19 before leaving Costa Rica. Another challenge that the pandemic presented was the backlog of passports, causing a lamination on the number of students that could go.

A senior in agronomy, Carly Strauser, attended the last study abroad trip to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving break. This trip presented a lot of firsts for Carly, her first study abroad experience, her first time out of the country, and her first time on an airplane. When asked what the experience was like, Carly responded with, “The trip to Costa Rica was a total of 10 days; it was the perfect amount of time for a beginner traveler, like myself. We got to see a lot of what the country had to offer while also not missing too much school or life at home. It was a great mix of adventures and downtime; we got to see what students were interested in while also exploring some on our own. This made the trip much more relaxing and enjoyable; we were able to learn a lot while also having fun.”

Carly shared that it was very interesting how Costa Rica was focusing on sustainability in agriculture because this is something that she is passionate about. She shares, “The farms we visited were making their compost, feeding cows fermented pineapple tops, using biologicals, and experimenting with other innovative practices as well.” One of Carly’s highlights from the trips was their in-country host, Gabby, visiting her farm. The students were able to provide recommendations on what she should do with her land. The students could use the information they learned in their agronomy classes and transfer it over and apply it to Costa Rica’s agriculture practices.

Lee and Carly both share similar advice for students thinking about participating in a study abroad program. Lee shares, “First, do it! Second, work with the CALS �� Office in setting it up.“ Carly shares, “If you are at all considering, I would recommend stepping out of your comfort zone and signing up for a trip. The shortened breaks over Thanksgiving or Spring break are an awesome way to have a great experience in a short amount of time!”

_{Original story posted by the Department of Agronomy, https://www.agron.iastate.edu/student-resources/soils-crops-and-natural-...}

Tags:

soils