Tropical Field Research
Link Student Research to Critical Issues Facing Our Global Community
Students are immersed in a hands-on field research program that takes advantage of the immense biodiversity of the tropical rainforest. They learn how to apply the scientific method while collaborating with team members to establish their original research question as well as the experimental design for their project. They use statistics to validate the results of their experiments and present their results to their peers and scientists.
Central Texas Science Team is a is a Texas 501(C)(3) non-profit corporation.
Interview with Dr. Pinto
Interview with Pablo about their cacao production
Examples of Research projects from past trip participants (you can reword that)
Using rambutan to deter leafcutter ants from foraging cacao leaves through learned behavior
Identifying the components of the Atta Columbica refuse dump that they most avoid
Whether or not ants can detect the presence of a known, harmful, parasitic fungus on the leaves they collect
The behaviors of Azteca constructor ants
The effectiveness of grapefruit in various forms for repelling leafcutter ants
Trying to understand the leafcutter ants’ cooling and heating system and how it related to keeping the fungus in a perfect temperature range
Variations in antibiotic potency between various leafcutter ant colonies
How natural repellents could be used to protect crops from leafcutter ants
How do bacteria populations differ in locations where the ants forage compared to locations that don’t experience leafcutter ant traffic
How do ants select what leaves to forage
Whether the leafcutter ants can sense the pheromone trail if their antennae are removed
Atta cephalotes antibacterial evolution
The detection of Escovopsis in Atta cephalotes leafcutter ant colonies
Does light affect leafcutter ant harvesting
Does sound frequency affect leafcutter ant harvesting and can it be used as a deterrent
Can leafcutter ants detect nutritional density of the leaves they forage and does that affect what leaves they choose.
