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We offer short-term field courses at locations across the globe, and in-depth research training programs in the Peruvian Amazon, typically between May and August.

Genomics in the Jungle IV

Biodiversity Monitoring in the Amazon with metabarcoding techniques!

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Wildlife Biology Program

Long-term field research training in the Peruvian Amazon!

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Our Wildlife Biology Field Training Program for 2023 is held at the Los Amigos Biological Station in Southeastern Peru. Participants are able to select from four specialty tracks⁣:

1.) Primate Monitoring and Behavior
2.) Biodiversity and Wildlife Health
3.) Animal Movement and Spatial Ecology
4.) Conservation Genetics

Participants work alongside experienced researchers and veterinary scientists to gain valuable field experience in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots in the Peruvian Amazon. This program is for aspiring biologists, anthropologists, veterinarians and others interested in biodiversity conservation, genomics, field research, and the One Health approach. Students assist with data collection for active research projects, with the possibility of continued involvement beyond the program’s end.

Our primate behavior program focuses on two free-ranging populations of Neotropical primates, the emperor and saddleback tamarin, at the Los Amigos Biological Field Station in Southeastern Peru. You would be joining an established primate research program, ongoing since 2009. The primary tasks in this position will be to:

Conduct daily behavioral follows of several focal groups, typically with one radio collared individual.
Scan sampling of behavior at fixed intervals.
Marking and collection of fruits from feeding trees.
Opportunistic collection of fecal samples.
Recording of spontaneous reproductive behaviors such as mating and scent marking.

Movement data collected will be associated with forest structure parameters acquired by high density lidar imaging. Feeding behavior data and samples will be incorporated into a study on natural seed dispersal. Social behavior will be used for a long-term dataset on cooperative breeding behavior.

NOTE: Applying for this program is now consolidated under the Wildlife Biology Training Program. Make sure to select the “Primate Specialty Track” in the application form.

2023 Course Description TBA in January

(2022 Course Description) For our fourth Genomics in the Jungle field course, the theme is biodiversity monitoring in the Amazon. More specifically, we will be metabarcoding from environmental DNA (eDNA) and trace DNA samples in order to identify species present at our field site in Southeastern Peru. We’ll sample from pug marks and oxbow lakes, as well as analyze the blood meals from arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks. Participants will learn a wide range of molecular research techniques at a modern in situ laboratory located at the edge of a 300,000 hectare conservation concession of intact lowland tropical rainforest. Skills to be taught include full pipeline DNA extraction, amplification, sequencing, and species identification with personalized instruction from experienced molecular biologists. Read more at the link below!

What’s it like to join us in the field?