Opportunity location: Las Tangaras Reserve - Mindo - west slope of Andes from Quito
Closing date (if specified): No date specified (will remain here for 90 days from posting date)
Opportunity Description:
Ecuador Cloud Forest Bird Expedition
Andes Mountains, South America: August 15-28, 2010
Become a Life Net Conservation Volunteer! Join Dr. Dusti Becker for an exciting 2- week research project focusing on birds in the Andes of western Ecuador. Dr. Becker, a well-known tropical avian ecologist with over 15 years of experience in Ecuador, will lead the expedition with help from experienced Ecuadorian field assistants, Pascual and MauricioTorres. Volunteers help with mist-netting of birds at Las Tangaras Reserve, Mindo, Ecuador to advance scientific understanding of a cloud forest avian community and species tolerances for deforestation and grazing. Your contribution of $1500 to the non-profit conservation organization Life Net is tax deductible and is used to sustain the reserve, while covering your transportation in Ecuador, meals, & lodging during the conservation research program.
Las Tangaras boasts more than 25 species of hummingbird, a cock-of-the-rock arena, and fabulous numbers of Choco and Andean endemic bird species. Volunteers help set up and monitor mist nets, extract birds from nets, carry birds from nets to a banding station, and record basic ecological data. Bilingual volunteers can contribute to environmental education and ecotourism training. Volunteers will have some afternoons free to explore and/or bird the Mindo area.
The expedition begins and ends in Quito. Contact Dusti Becker at dbecker@lifenetnature.org for further details. Experience with mist-netting is desirable, but not required. Visit the Volunteer page of www.lifenetnature.org for more details.
If you are bi-lingual and would like to help Pascual Torres with other mist-netting projects at Las Tangaras during 2010, contact Dr. Becker to arrange a volunteer opportunity that suits your schedule.
For more info, contact:
Dr. Dusti Becker
dbecker@lifenetnature.org