Kayla Giordano Studies Conflict in Costa Rica

2017 Jun 13

A group of honors students from Eastern Connecticut State University spent 10 days in Costa Rica this May for a field course that examined the country's rich biodiversity and developing agricultural industry. Among the travelers from Eastern was Kayla Giordano '17 of Salem, who majors in Political Science and Economics.

"This course required students to examine the conflict between preservation of the tropical rainforest and Costa Rica's economic shift to export-focused agriculture," said Patricia Szczys, biology professor and trip supervisor.

"Costa Rica was certainly a great conclusion to my undergraduate career!" said Giordano. "I think the most eye-opening part of the trip was experiencing how our food is grown and how different agriculture is in Costa Rica compared to the United States. I'm glad I spent the semester learning about the biodiversity in Costa Rica before actually traveling to the country. It was awesome to be able to identify species we'd discussed in class during excursions into the rainforest."

The trip to Costa Rica was the field component of a course taken on the Eastern campus during the academic year. The students toured the tropical rainforest as well as plantations that grow pineapples, bananas, peppercorn and coffee. They even participated in a community service project where they planted 100 trees at a peppercorn farm as part of a reforestation effort.