Things to Bring

Recommended texts and descriptions for 2025:
Neotropical Biology:
The Diversity of Life, E.O. Wilson – Esteemed naturalist, Harvard professor, author, and founder of Sociobiology, Wilson’s scientific history of the development of biological diversity, extinction/mass extinction events is foundational.
*The Neotropical Companion, John Kritcher – Kritcher’s broad knowledge of the new world tropics is revealed throughout interesting descriptions and personal experience. We have several copies of the test available for students to use during the course, as some chapters are required reading.
*Tropical Nature, Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata – “Tropical Nature” is an anecdotal and adventurous exploration of ‘Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America’ through the lens of the two biologists.
What is Life?, Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan – Though not focused on tropical biology, Margulis and Sagan’s book provides critical definitions and characterizations of biotic phenomena and their distinction from complex physical systems and dissipative structures.
Global Change Science:
*Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under Pressure, International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) – The 2004 synthesis of the work of thousands of scientists was published primarily for policy makers, highlighting the relatively new concepts of Earth System Science in specific, easy to grasp conclusions.
The Future of Life, E.O. Wilson – Wilson’s 2001 publication arrived as a sharp jolt to mainstream conservation biology, accurately identifying the ongoing (and still growing) net negative effects of the globalized industrial economy (or “Human Enterprise”) at the roots of widespread ecological destruction. Unfortunately, the solutions proposed in “The Future of Life” assumed responsible, intelligent political leadership among prosperous nations.
The Lucifer Principle, Howard Bloom – Bloom’s 1996 breakthrough text has been tremendously influential in modern science and culture, as it provides an evolutionary perspective connecting social/group/collective behavior to complex historical events in human history, general biology, and cultural revolutions. This is also one of the most fun and exciting books to read for those seeking an inside scoop on the biological underpinnings of our feelings, impulses, and group behavior as a rapidly changing social superorganism. From the mid-nineties, Bloom accurately predicted many of ongoing global cultural conundrums as well as a major shift in evolutionary theory from the reductionist “selfish-gene” paradigm to the now accepted “multi-level selection” characterization of evolution.
*Available online or at PTRI; contains some chapters required for completion of course