A donation by the United States government of US$1.3 million will turn the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) into an environmental management model, and will allow EARTH University to receive more students from all over the world, said the U.S. Embassy at a ceremony this week.

The funds will be used to improve EARTH University’s infrastructure and to turn the La Selva Biological Station, a tropical biology research center run by the OTS, in an environmental management model for the region.

La Selva Biological Station is owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of universities and research institutions from the United States, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico. Recognized internationally as one of the most productive field stations in the world for tropical forest research and peer-reviewed publications, La Selva hosts approximately 300 scientists and 100 university courses every year. The primary goal of La Selva Biological Station is to preserve and protect an intact forest, as well as providing laboratory facilities for tropical research and education. The research potential of the area is not only vital to tropical ecology, but it is also an important location in the effort to study relations between local communities and protected areas. In addition, its high diversity and ease of access to the Puerto Viejo-Horquetas highway makes La Selva an important ecotourism destination and environmental education center for tourists and the local community.

“These two institutions have a long history of working together with students, professors and institutions in the United States and … this donation is a sign of my country’s desire to continue this close relationship in the future,” emphasized United States Ambassador to Costa Rica S. Fitzgerald Haney.

This is the first time the OTS has received U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funds, which amount to more than US$621.000 to optimize the management and functioning of the La Selva Biological Station.

The renovation will allow the acquisition of environmentally friendly technologies, such as highly efficient air conditioners, solar water heaters, photovoltaic panels, double-pane doors and windows, LED lighting, reduced water consumption lavatories, as well as the construction of a new science education and management area.

“This management is part of the OTS Green Initiatives Program that seeks to make more efficient and sustainable use of the physical, economic and environmental resources consumed by the research and education stations of this organization and that are in line with its mission to preserve the environment, said Liana Babbar, general director of OTS.

For its part, EARTH University is receiving US$700,000 to build dormitories on its campus in Guácimo and La Flor, on the Caribbean slope of Costa Rica, and acquire equipment and furniture for these new buildings. The expansion will allow more students from around the world to become part of short-term residency programs, during which they will learn about ideas, cultures and practices from more than 40 countries represented among the school’s student body. Since 2003 EARTH University has received 13 donations from the USAID, for a total of almost US$8.5 million.

“Since the founding of the University, the United States Government has believed in EARTH’s educational mission,” said EARTH Provost Daniel Sherrard. “For more than a decade, USAID has supported the education we provide to young entrepreneurs from around the world who are undoubtedly the direct beneficiaries of the infrastructure improvements being made. Thanks to this contribution, we will make significant progress that will support our impact on the formation of agents of change,” he concluded.

For more than 50 years, the OTS’ headquarters have been located in Costa Rica, where it is considered an institution of public interest. La Selva Biological Station is the largest research station of the OTS and provides thousands of Costa Rican, U.S., European, Asian and Latin American students and scientists with advanced laboratory services, large-scale research instruments, classrooms, a herbarium and collections of insects, and a living laboratory of 1,615 hectares of rainforest under protection.

EARTH University was founded in 1990 by a group of Costa Ricans, with support from USAID, the W.K. Foundation, and the government of Costa Rica. This private institution dedicated to an environmentally and socially conscious education in science, technology and entrepreneurship. The mission of EARTH is to prepare leaders with ethical values ​​that contribute to the sustainable development of the tropics, and the building of a prosperous and just society.