Work with Nature CR

Being an Environmental Research Intern for two months was truly a life-changing and eye-opening experience. I found this internship because I was looking to do something good for the planet while traveling and advancing my career in conservation biology. This experience was the perfect combination of all three. I chose work with nature because Marteen (the primary biologist and co-founder of the foundation) let me design my own research project. Because I already had some experience with field biology and doing biological research I wanted to see if I could challenge myself to design and execute my own project. I ended up establishing a system for monitoring biodiversity levels in different types of rainforest and reforested areas. This was truly a valuable collaborative effort between myself, Marteen and Hanneke and ended up being a very successful project.
In addition to working on my research project, the other students and I helped out around the farm, picking fruits, planting and weeding as well as helped out in the village with community projects such as picking up trash, painting the village health center and teaching English to local students. The work I did with Work With Nature was rewarding in more ways than one.
In addition to Hanneke and Marteen being amazing hosts, the other students that were living on the farm became really close friends. We all shared a common love and interest in biology and conservation and being able to explore Costa Rica together lead us to all become very close. In addition Tapa, our awesome field guide and good friend, was our connection to the local community and culture. A local from the village, cooked us amazing traditional Costa Rican dishes throughout the week and we were always excited to see her walking down the path towards our kitchen. On the weekends, my friends and I would often take a bus to one of the nearby towns to explore Costa Rica a little more. I ended up traveling around Costa Rica and Panama for a month after my stay and being so immersed in the culture by living on the farm for two months was a great introduction to the country. This was my first time traveling alone internationally so I was a little nervous, but that feeling quickly went away and I always felt very safe on the farm and everywhere I traveled within Costa Rica.
If these weren’t reasons enough already to volunteer for this internship, the mission might be. WWN uses the money from volunteers and donations to buy up hectares of land in order to preserve and reforest areas that have been deforested or are in danger of being deforested. You may even get to plant some trees that will contribute to much needed rainforest in the future!
After my experience in Costa Rica, I had a better sense of the career I wanted to pursue and the kind of life I wanted to live when I got back home. There is no better way to get to know the amazing rainforests and culture of Costa Rica than being so immersed and being surrounded by amazing people from all over the world.
Thank you!

Work with nature is an amazing organization and spending two weeks with them in a Costa Rican jungle was by far one of the most life-changing experiences. The bus systems in Costa Rica were surprisingly easy so traveling during our free time was very easy. The little village we were in was cozy and everyone was incredibly kind. Our cooks were locals and the food was amazing. I still miss the pinto. The projects themselves were so rewarding and being able to contribute to their research was so fun. My favorite was the reforestation project, where we planted trees in deforested areas. Recently they posted pictures on Facebook of the trees growing and it’s awesome to be able to see the project turning out such a success. I want to go back and highly recommend this trip. It was wonderful.

Immersed in the middle of Costa Rica nearby a small village called San Miguel, I got to experience first hand with biodiversity data collection, permaculture and reforestation. Contrary to other places in Costa Rica where, for quite a high price, I was only offered to interact with animals kept in refuges' enclosures, at Work With Nature, I encountered real wildlife at their door step: sloths, armadillos, kinkajous, coatis, toucans, oropendolas, tayras, one caïman and so many other multicoloured birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and insects! At this farm, where we were all staying, activities included: setting camera traps on the wild trail; learning about and helping on the permaculture garden; biodiversity plot counts; sustainability and environmental work; tropical plant research and drawing; normal gardening (also encompassing clearing paths and redirecting rain water); walking the two adorable dogs; evening's cards, games or films on the newly installed flat screen and sometimes going to the local bar! Once to twice a week, depending on people's projects, we also went to the reserve. There, in the middle of the jungle, we were checking on the newly planted trees' health and collected data on fauna accompanied by either Hanneke or Maarten (who run the project) and Tapa (a local guide) as safety always came first. During the weekends, at our own cost, some of us travel in smaller groups to Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, Turrialba where we enjoy beaches, national parks and obviously bigger bars!

All of this comprised a bed in a sturdy wooden bungalow type of room shared with two others (max of 4 per rooms) and three Costa Rican meals a day made by two women from the village. Although having no biology background, I was surrounded by knowledgeable students who took their time to explain everything in English. I was the sole non-Dutch speaker and, without requesting it, all students surprised me by doing their final presentation in English!

I sincerely recommend going there. To my knowledge, you won't experience anything like this in Costa Rica where you can really see and help wildlife in their natural habitat surrounded by knowledgeable people.

A special thanks to all the students who made me feel very welcomed for over a month and of course to Marteens and Hanneke who always took the time to explain everything properly and answer all my questions. It was definitely a new engaging and enjoyable learning experience!

Alex – March/April 2019