TIERA Open House Featuring Ailín Blasco

Join us for an open house event at the new TIERA Program office space! Ailín Blasco, Interim Director of FCAT (Fundación para los Andes Tropicales) will be giving a talk on her experience leading community-engaged conservation initiatives in the Chocó Rainforest of NW Ecuador. This event will also be a great way to learn about the TIERA field courses at FCAT this summer and to be in community with like-minded individuals who are committed to conservation and environmental justice.

About the TIERA Program:

The TIERA (Tulane Interdisciplinary Environmental Research and Action) Program is an immersive, interdisciplinary study abroad course focused on impact and engaged scholarship. The core experience takes place in Ecuador, where an expanding agricultural frontier and biodiversity-rich forests exist side-by-side. Students experience the challenges and rewards of designing and conducting community-engaged field research in a biodiversity hotspot, based on active collaboration with local Ecuadorian residents in a variety of contexts. 

Students and faculty travel to Ecuador for a two-week intensive field course where we work closely with our local community partners at FCAT. While on the course, students design, implement, and write up field based research projects, receive regular lectures on socio-ecological conservation from experts and practitioners. Students are also exposed to a number of conservation efforts including water quality, experimental rainforest restoration, and sustainable agriculture designed to improve the livelihoods of local residents.

Applications for the TIERA Program are open now! Learn more/apply at tieraprogram.com!