Highly Recommended!

I am from the United States and volunteered on IPBio’s Betary Reserve in Brazil for 5 months in total. I highly recommend volunteering with IPBio, as I had a very positive experience and plan to continue volunteering with IPBio remotely going forward.

Prior to arriving in Brazil, Imran, the volunteer coordinator at IPBio, was very responsive and answered my many questions fully so that I knew exactly what I was getting myself into even before getting to the reserve. The other staff members at IPBio are also very friendly and helpful, and I always felt comfortable reaching out if I ever needed help with anything, whether work-related or not.

The organization itself is well-run, with clear projects and realistic plans to reach its goals. There is a very clear vision here and it is evident how each of the staff members and volunteers is individually contributing to the achievement of this vision. While at IPBio, I worked on the new Bioacoustics Project. I was responsible for learning how to use the new software and hardware donated through a grant program, developing the research protocol, and carrying out the data analysis. I greatly valued how much the organization trusted me to figure out these problems using my technical background. There is definitely never a lack of work to be done around the Reserve, but both the staff and volunteers have a very good work-life balance.

The accommodations have everything you need and are kept up quite well. The volunteer house felt cramped at times, but the Reserve is in the process of building a new, bigger volunteer house that should alleviate this issue.

Iporanga itself is a great place to spend time volunteering and immersing yourself in Brazilian culture, as the people are very warm, friendly, and welcoming. I felt safe the entire time I was in Iporanga, and felt comfortable walking around the city alone at any time of day. I came to Brazil speaking a little bit of Portuguese and highly recommend learning a little before coming. While not necessary to volunteer, knowing a bit of Portuguese enabled me to meet and get to know a lot of people here, including a lot of the staff members who do not speak English fluently.

During my free time, I was able to get to know the large number of caves and waterfalls in the nearby state park PETAR, hike the area, go to local festivals, take weekend trips to nearby towns, and many other fun activities! I stayed at IPBio for 5 months and still have a long list of things I’d like to do in the area for when I someday return.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience at an organization I respect highly with a lot of people I miss already. I definitely recommend volunteering here and look forward to continuing to volunteer with IPBio remotely from home in the United States.