Costa Rica: Sustainability in Latin America

UB students visit a Del Monte banana plantation as part of their trip to Costa Rica, where they learned about fruit management.

A worker cuts some bananas from a tree at the Del Monte banana plantation. The worker on the right is holding a pad that is placed between the bunches of bananas to prevent damage as they are transported back to the plant for processing.

Workers at the Del Monte banana plantation wash and prepare bananas for shipping.

A Del Monte worker inspects bunches of bananas for quality. Blemished fruit, such as the bunch seen here, is mashed and used for baby food.

UB students watch a presentation at the Miravalles geothermal plant in Guanacaste. Matt Dearstyne (seated at the table), a UB alum and communications coordinator for the Institute for Central American Development Studies, helped coordinate the activities for this study abroad trip and served as an interpreter.

The Miravalles volcano looms in the distance as the students walk to the geothermal plant where the electricity for the entire country is managed.

UB students pose for a picture at the Miravalles geothermal power plant.

Students tour the Los Negros hydroelectric plant and pass a religious statue along the way.

Students take time for a selfie at the Celsia wind farm in Guanacaste.

Students tour the turbines at the Celsia wind farm in Guanacaste.

Members of John Atkinson's course, "Costa Rica: Sustainability in Latin America," pose for a picture with the Celsia wind project turbines in the background.

John Atkinson (foreground), assistant professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering, talks with one of his students during the tour of the Celsia wind farm in Guanacaste.

A beautiful sunrise rainbow over the Miravalles volcano, seen from the Yökö Termales Hotel.

The students take a break for some ecotourism at Las Hornillas mud pits and waterfalls.

Students ham it up at Las Hornillas mud pits.

Students traversed some narrow — and wobbly — bridges to access the waterfalls at Las Hornillas mud pits and waterfalls.

The students took a day trip to the El Viejo sugar mill in Guanacaste Province, which is the largest sugar producer in Costa Rica and also generates 1.5 percent of the nation's electricity.

The students also visited the animal sanctuary at the mill-owned Hacienda at El Viejo Wetlands.

The Hacienda El Viejo Wetlands are a must-see for any birdlover visiting Costa Rica.

Students took a day trip to the Sol de Vida, a solar cooking project in Guanacaste Province. Here the students are learning about the non-GMO seeds that are utilized by the project.

A guide explains the process of solar cooking.

A guide demonstrates solar cooking to the UB students.

Students visit the Quetzal Education Research Center, a biological field station operated by Southern Nazarene University in San Gerardo de Dota. Here they learned about the biodiversity of the cloud forest.

After touring the museum at QERC, students had an opportunity to hike through the cloud forest.

John Atkinson photographs the beauty of the cloud forest.