Duke University is awarded a grant to improve facilities at the Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica by 1) constructing four new cabins for researchers to ease congestion, especially during peak periods; 2) increasing student residential space to simultaneously accommodate two courses by remodeling former offices in the Wilson house; 4) upgrading cyberinfrastructure - and in particular increase bandwidth and wireless coverage, and install IP telephones; and 5) replacing outdated equipment in the laboratory and the newly re-inaugurated herbarium. These changes will ease accommodation problems, improve the versatility of the station, and bring the facilities at LCBS up to date with student and researcher needs.
Duke University is a member of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), a consortium of 62 universities and research institutions from the United States, Latin America, South Africa, and Australia. Founded in 1963 with a mission to provide leadership in education, research and the responsible use of natural resources in the tropics, OTS owns and operates three biological field stations in Costa Rica: Las Cruces (tropical premontane rainforest); Palo Verde (seasonally dry lowland forest); and La Selva (wet lowland rainforest). The Las Cruces Biological Station (LCBS) was purchased by OTS in 1973 and over the years has established itself as a key mid-elevational tropical research station.
