The Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology of Pitzer College has a 60 hectare (150 acre) Reserve and Field Station located on the southwest coast of Costa Rica.
It’s adjacent to the well-known Hacienda Baru Reserve, near the town of Dominical.
The property, originally lowland rainforest, was progressively cleared for cattle farming in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Since 1993, the property has been the subject of restoration and sustainable forestry efforts.
Management of the property was transferred to Pitzer College in 2005, which manages the site as a biological reserve and logistical base for undergraduate ecological research and education.
Pitzer College runs a Study Abroad Semester Program (Fall and Spring semesters) focusing on restoration ecology.
Students spend approximately one month in a home-stay environment while studying Spanish at a language institute in Alajuela, at the foot of Poas Volcano.
They then move to rural home-stays while studying tropical ecology and human ecology at the Firestone Center, finishing with an independent study project.
The program also includes a short study visit to Panama.