Students Spend Spring Break in Costa Rica

mmgrant — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 15:09:47 +0000

By Brenda Witherspoon, Teaching Professor, Greenlee School of Journalism

A group of 18 CALS students spent their spring break learning about different approaches to agriculture and immersing themselves in another culture, including its people, natural environment and languages. They did that through extended visits to farms and producers of pineapple, highland fruit, coffee, sugar cane, bamboo, cacao, spices, rice, mango and a tour of a national irrigation system. This travel course has been running for more than 25 years.

“Being able to see the beautiful volcanoes, waterfalls, plants, animals, culture and soils of Costa Rica with other Iowa State students allowed me to make many awesome new friends and connections and rewarded me with a new perspective and experience,” said Sage Coffman, a senior in agronomy and environmental science.

“For a lot of us, doing agriculture totally organically was thought of as only possible in a perfect world, so it was epic to realize, wow, here’s the best bread I have ever tasted, and it’s grown from naturally and sustainably grown wheat,” said Marialuna Schreiner Cintrón, a freshman in agronomy.

Coffman echoed that sentiment saying, “My favorite part of the trip was being immersed in a different culture and communicating with farmers and agricultural workers from a different background. My favorite visit was to an organic vegetable farm managed by Juan Jose. Señor Jose was very passionate, showing us his operation and being engaged in our many questions.” Coffman had even worked on writing out questions in Spanish.

Students also spent a day visiting a volcano to hike and to bathe in mud baths, thermal pools and beneath a waterfall. Another day was spent at the beach, where a few students awakened early to explore tide pools as the sun rose and the entire group gathered again in the evening to watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.

Many of the students made a connection with Gaby Ureña, who has long accompanied ISU trips as an in-country guide and whose extended family in Santa Maria de Dota made the group feel at home, offering a tortilla workshop, a garden tour, a home-cooked meal, and even a competitive game of soccer.

Agronomy professor Amber Anderson and Greenlee School of Journalism Teaching Professor Brenda Witherspoon accompanied the group.

Original story posted: https://www.agron.iastate.edu/2024/03/27/students-spend-spring-break-in-...

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costa rica

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Author(s):

Brenda Witherspoon

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-...}

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and Natural Resources of Costa Rica ��

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Agronomy

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Department of Agronomy

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Students Spend Spring Break in Costa Rica

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