Mountains & Culture: The Bolivia Project
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Join us this summer for a vigorous exploration through the physical and cultural heart of South
America, the Bolivian Andes. This remote area supports some of the highest biological diversity 
found on earth, with ecosystems including tropical montane forests, cloud forests, inter-Andean valleys, puna grasslands and alpine paramo under the majestic Andean peaks with perennial snowfields and glaciers. These landscapes provide prime habitat for studying birdlife, including three species of flamingos and many tropical migrants, as well as for observing how environmental conditions influence plant biodiversity, adaptations, and growth along the wide elevation and climate gradients of the rising Andes. While the highest peaks reach upwards of 20,000 feet and are perhaps most identified with the Andean condor, we also have the opportunity to investigate other endemic flora and fauna like the 
vicuna, a wild relative of the alpaca, the Andean Bear, and the viscacha, a larger relative of the charismatic chinchilla, among many other animals.
Bolivia is full of rich and challenging opportunities for students to learn first-hand about conservation efforts by local and international conservation organizations while exploring a rich cultural history originating from before the Tiawanaku cultural horizon, many years before the Incan Empire. Our team will trek through the remote communities and forests of the Central Andes of Bolivia to examine its natural and cultural history, geology, ecology, and the conservation of natural and human-altered landscapes. Here, participants will also have a unique opportunity to understand and assess the environmental and social challenges faced by the region from local and global economic pressures.
THE PROJECT
Initially, we will live among small subsistence farming communities on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake on earth. By living with local families, project members will be able to learn basic Spanish language skills and participate 
fully in the lifestyles of Aymara and Quechua peoples that to this day still farm potatoes, quinoa (an Andean grain high in protein), and raise livestock using practices that are little changed from pre-Incan times. Then the program will explore several other high altitude ecosystems in Bolivia, including the high deserts and salt flats of the altiplano, where we will discuss the sustainability, benefits, and effects of tourism within fragile alpine ecosystems.
Our field research will enable us to focus on high-elevation queñua (Polylepis spp., in the rose family) woodlands, one of the most important and charismatic species found in the cloud forests. These trees form the highest elevation forests on earth, reaching over 15,700 feet and are often gnarled and wind-twisted into aesthetic forms, caused by the harsh environmental conditions. These mossy woodlands shape the headwaters of the Amazon River basin and also are the sole habitat for several endemic and rare species of birds. These stunted forests also serve as important resources of fuelwood for cooking and heating, and local communities must strike a careful balance between conservation and ongoing resource 
use. In these forests we will survey and map forest patches, conducting observations and censuses of rare and endemic species, and examine the use of individual patches by nearby communities. This fieldwork is coordinated with specialists and experts currently conducting ecological and conservation research in these unique forests. We will also meet with local community members to discuss their traditional use of the queñua forests and how they are working to conserve these forests within the regulations of the national park system as well as for their own use as a future resource. 
Our fieldstudies will broaden the experience for each project member and introduce them to the wide variety of wild places in Bolivia. Together, we will descend into the mountainous and semi-arid inter-Andean valleys and the more tropical eastern foothills of the Andes to fully appreciate the wide diversity of climates and elevations that contribute to both the biological and the agro-biological diversity of the Central Andes. Additional topics we will cover in our lectures, discussion, meetings, and field research include water conservation and the implications of climate change for the Central Andes, where it is unlikely that any glaciers will persist beyond the end of this century.
By the end of the project each of us will have gained first hand experience conducting ecological field studies in a magnificent part of South America, and a new appreciation for knowledgeable stewards of these rugged Andean landscapes—the indigenous Aymara and Quechua mountain peoples of the Andes. The on-site In-country fee is $1950.
Read the full course description:
PROGRAM LEADERS
DANIEL HAGAMAN is an anthropologist and naturalist who has worked on conservation and education projects throughout Latin America, particularly focused on high Andean ecology and cultures.
ESTHER ALSUM is a botanist with field experience ranging from Alaska to Patagonia with particular focus on plant ecology and river conservation and management.