Open teaching positions with OTS

[Shaun M. Bennett]

TEACHING POSITIONS OPEN IN THE ORGANIZATION FOR TROPICAL STUDIES


The Organization for Tropical Studies has openings for faculty leaders in
four summer, 1996 courses in Costa Rica.  All are graduate courses for
students from the OTS consortium institutions.  A Ph.D. is required for all
coordinator positions and most co-coordinator openings.  Knowledge of Costa
Rica, Spanish, and OTS are important pluses. Successful candidates receive
an honorarium (varies according to course length and experience) and OTS
covers all travel and lodging costs associated with the course.


A Co-coordinator is sought for Tropical Conservation Biology, a 4-week
introduction to principles and issues in the conservation of biological
resources in developing countries.  Participants undertake field projects at
each of three sites where OTS has field stations in Costa Rica: a tropical
dry forest and National Park (Palo Verde), a lowland rain forest (La Selva),
and a mid-elevation wet forest (Las Cruces).

A Coordinator and co-coordinator are sought for Tropical Biodiversity
(3-weeks).  This course visits three contrasting sites and introduces
participants to the ecosystem characteristic of each.  Field problems
address the factors that have produced each site's biological diversity, the
identification and quantification of biological diversity, and phenomena
which maintain or reduce it.  This course is also open to qualified students
from non-OTS member institutions.

A Coordinator and Co-coordinator are needed for Tropical Plant Systematics,
an 8-week course that introduces students to principles of phylogenetics as
they apply to tropical taxa.  Collecting, identification, and other field
work fill most days.  Innovative techniques such as electrophoretic studies
and construction of cladistic trees using advanced computer models are
learned.  The course begins with fundamentals of systematics taught at the
Wilson Botanical Garden and Las Cruces Biological Station, and then travels
throughout Costa Rica to a widely varying set of ecosystems. Students study
taxa of their own choosing in appropriate areas of the country and then
regroup for concluding work at the Wilson Botanical Garden.

There is an opening for a Co-coordinator for Tropical Biology: An Ecological
Approach, an 8-week course in the fundamentals of tropical biology.  Offered
continuously for over 30 years, this is OTS' best known course.  It includes
field work at half a dozen sites ranging from coastal mangroves to
high-elevation paramo. The course is offered twice annually, beginning in
mid-January and mid-June.  There are Co-coordinator openings in both periods.

Inquire or submit cv, detailed letter, and reference names and phone numbers
to OTS Faculty Search, Box 90633, Durham, NC 27708-0633, tel.: 919-684-5774,
<sbennett at acpub.duke.edu>
Applications will be reviewed immediately and the positions will be filled
when an appropriate candidate is found.

END OF ANNOUNCEMENT
Shaun Bennett
Academic Director
Organization for Tropical Studies
sbennett at acpub.duke.edu
919-684-5774