OTS UNDERGRADUATE
PROGRAM STAFF AND FACULTY

Karin Gastreich (506) 524-0607; karing@ots.ac.cr
Other Faculty Members	Career interests and Experience	My Curriculum Vitae	Research
Education  Research Projects Manuscripts in Preparation Other Professional Training Grants and Scholarships Publications Professional Experince Professional Presentation
Education
Ph.D. 1996 Zoology University of Texas at Austin, USA B.A 1989 Biology Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA   1988   1988 Institut für Europäische Studien, Austria
Other Professional Training
2000 Wilderness First Aid. Cuerici, Costa Rica. 2000 Workshop on Teaching Case Studies in the Sciences. University of Buffalo, New York. 1999 Workshop on Tropical Plant Identifications. Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica.
Professional Experience
1999-present Director of Undergraduate Programs, Organization for Tropical Studies, Costa Rica. Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Duke University. Responsibilities include supervision and administration of all field-based undergraduate program offerings, including academic design, strategic planning, proposal writing, budget management, student recruitment, and teaching.   2002-present Mentor, Research Experiences for Undergraduates, La Selva Biological Station. Supervised the following projects: “Indirect effects of spiders in Piper urostachym” (Betsey Ahlstrom, Brigham Young University); “Determinants and consequences of caste size in Pheidole bicornis” (Chris Martin, Duke University); “Exploring potential mutualisms in Piper urostachym” (Amanda Hodson, University of New Mexico).   1997-1998 Field Course Coordinator and Ecology Professor, Institute for Central American Studies, Costa Rica. Responsibilities included design and implementation of an interdisciplinary field-based semester program in resource management for undergraduate students. Co-coordinator: Ileana Matamoros.   1995-1999 Research Consultant and Environmental Educator, Neotropica Foundation, Costa Rica. Responsibilities included designing environmental education workshops and camps for teachers and students of all levels; writing educational activities and materials; and documenting the impact of environmental education. Supervisor: José Rogelio Vargas C.   1990-1995 Assistant Instructor, University of Texas at Austin. Responsibilities included running discussion sections, giving lectures, and designing and teaching laboratory sections for Entomology (Fall 1995), The Structure and Function of Organisms (Fall 1992, 1994), Ecology & Environmental Issues (Spring 1991,1992), Ecology, Evolution and Society (Fall 1990, 1991).   1990 Field Assistant, Section of Genetics and Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Supervisor: Dr. David Westneat.   1989-1990 Laboratory Assistant, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas. Supervisors: Drs. Joan Strassmann and David Queller.   1988 Teaching Assistant, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA. Animal Behavior and Evolution. Supervisor: Dr. Joan Strassmann.   1984-1985 Laboratory Assistant, Department of Radiation Biology, University of Missouri at Kansas City Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri. Supervisor: Dr. Bruce Kimler.
Research Projects
2002 - present. Direct and indirect interactions between Piper urostachym and its resident arthropod fauna in the forest understory at La Selva Biological Station. 2001 Exploration of the long-term impact of the BOSCOSA project. In cooperation with Susanne Hunt (American University, University for Peace) and the Neotropica Foundation. 1999-2000. Immediate impact of environmental education on Costa Rican grade school children on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. In cooperation with the Neotropica Foundation. 1998-1999. Immediate impact of international environmental education on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. In cooperation with colleagues from the Neotropica Foundation. 1992-1996. Behavioral ecology of Dipoena sp. and the Piper-Pheidole mutualism on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Co-advisors were Larry Gilbert and Mark Kirkpatrick at the University of Texas at Austin. 1988-1990. Genetic and behavioral basis of cooperative behavior in neotropical swarm-founding wasps. In cooperation with Joan Strassmann and David Queller at Rice University, Houston, Texas. 1983-1985. Laser-induced cytogenic effects of haematoporphyrin derivative. Under the supervision of Dr. Bruce Kimler, Department of Radiation Biology, University of Missouri at Kansas City Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri.
Grants and Scholarships
Project Director Activities 2005-present Research Experiences for Undergraduates at La Selva Biological Station. National Science Foundation. $430,063. 2004-present Minority Scholars Program. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. $352,651. 2003-present Inclusión de Estudiantes Costarricenses en el Programa de Experiencias de investigación de Pre-Grado de la OET. Fundación CR-USA. $120,000 2002-2004 Research Experiences for Undergraduates at La Selva Biological Station. National Science Foundation. $252,000. 2002-2004 Minority Scholars Program. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. $250,000. Personal Awards 2005 Research Experiences for Undergraduates at La Selva Biological Station. National Science Foundation.Co-PI with Don Stone. $430,063. 1996 Travel Fellowship, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin. 1994 Research Fellowship, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin. 1993 Dissertation Research Grant, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin. 1993 University Continuing Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin. 1993 Research Fellowship, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin. 1992 Explorer's Club, Grant-in-Aid-of Research. 1991 Hartman Fellowship, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin. 1992 Percy Sladen Memorial Fund for Research in Conservation Biology. 1991 Zoology Research Fellowship, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin. 1991 Zoology Scholarship Endowment for Excellence, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin. 1991 Tinker Foundation Research Grant, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin. 1988 Ford Foundation Honors Research Grant. Rice University 1988 Otto K. Wunnicke Memorial Scholarship for studies in German history, literature or language. 1985 Board of Governors Scholarship, Rice University.
Professional Presentation
Gastreich, K.R. 1997. Alteration of prey behavior by Dipoena sp. facilitates folivory on Piper obliquum. Symposium and Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology. San Jose, Costa Rica. Gastreich, K.R. 1998. Interacciones indirectas entre el depredador de hormigas Dipoena banksii y ciertas especies de Piper. IV Congreso Latino Americano de Ecología. October 20-25, Arequipa, Peru. Gastreich, K.R. and J.R. Vargas C. 1998. Evaluación del impacto inmediato de un programa de educación ambiental. IV Congreso Latino Americano de Ecología. October 20-25, Arequipa, Peru. Gastreich, K.R. 2000. Prey preference and patch choice by the ant predator Dipoena schmidtii (Araneae: Theridiidae). Annual Meeting of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. August 7-12, Zurich, Switzerland. Gastreich, K.R. 2001. The impact of environmental education on rural Costa Rican grade school children: A gender perspective. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. August 5-10, Madison, Wisconsin.
Manuscripts In Preparation
Gastreich, K.R. Gender differences in response to environmental education among Costa Rican grade school children. (for Applied Environmental Education and Communication: An International Journal) Gastreich, K.R. Patch choice by the ant predator Dipoena banksii. (for Behavioral Ecology) Gastreich, K.R. Web site selections and prey preference in the ant predator Dipoena banksii (Aranea: Theridiidae). (for Animal Behavior) Gastreich, K.R. Distribution of Peucetia viridians (Araneae: Oxyopidae) as a function of prey density and flower presence in a tropical dry habitat.
Publications
Gastreich, K.R., D.C. Queller, C.R. Hughes and J.E. Strassmann. 1990. Kin recognition in the tropical swarm-founding wasp, Parachartergus colobopterus. Animal Behaviour 40:598-601. Strassmann, J.E., K.R. Gastreich, D.C. Queller and C.R. Hughes. 1992. Demographic and genetic evidence for cyclical changes in queen number in a neotropical wasp, Polybia emaceata. American Naturalist 140(3):363-372. Gastreich, K.R., D.C. Queller, and J.E. Strassmann. 1993. Determinants of high genetic relatedness in the swarm-founding wasp, Protopolybia exigua. Ethology, Ecology, and Evolution 5. Hughes, C.R., D.C. Queller, J.E. Strassmann, C.R. Solís, J.A. Negrón and K.R. Gastreich. 1993. The maintenance of high genetic relatedness in multi-queen colonies of social wasps. In: L. Keller, ed., Polygyny and Social Insects. Oxford Scientific Publications. pp. 153-170. Gastreich, Karin. 1995. Conservation in Costa Rica. Biodiversity News 3(1). http://www.utexas.edu/students/scb/newsletter/95fall/letter.html Gastreich, K.R. 1996. Interactions between the ant predator Dipoena sp. and the Piper-Pheidole Mutualism: Behavioral perspectives on community ecology. Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin. Gastreich, K.R. 1999. Trait-mediated indirect effects of a Theridiid spider on an ant-plant mutualism. Ecology 80(3):1066-1070. Gastreich, Karin R. 2001. Aprendamos en el Aula Verde: Actividades de Campo para la Educación Ambiental con Información para Facilitadores. Editorial Heliconia, San José, Costa Rica. 103pp. Gastreich, Karin Rita. 2002. Si el norte fuera el sur: A case of squirrel monkey identities. National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, State University of New York at Buffalo. http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ubcase.htm#evobio Gastreich, Karin Rita. 2002. Student perceptions of culture and environment in an international context: a case study of educational camps in Costa Rica. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, pp. 167-182 Gastreich, Karin R. and Grant Gentry. 2004. Faunal studies in model Piper systems, with a focus on indirect interactions and novel insect-Piper mutualisms. In Lee Dyer, ed. Piper: A model genus for studies of chemistry, ecology, and evolution. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. New York. Hodson, Amanda, and Karin Rita Gastreich. In Press. Evidence for a novel mutualism in the tropical understory shrub Piper urostachym. Biotropica.