Program for universities
Research with purpose, in the field.
Higher education · Internship · Research
The field doesn't wait for the lab.
Universities don't come here to observe: they come to do. Students and faculty take part in systematic monitoring, restoration, clinical handling of psittacines, and data recording that sustains long-term conservation work. Your thesis, internship, or fieldwork becomes part of the foundation's work.
Purpose
That university students and faculty contribute to knowledge production around psittacine rehabilitation, tropical dry forest restoration, and environmental education — and that they leave with real field hours alongside the technical team.
How universities take part
We host universities in three modes:
- One-day field trips with the team: rotation through stations, recordings, technical wrap-up workshop.
- Internships from one to several months, with a tutor on the technical team accompanying the student.
- Theses and research projects, where the foundation provides context, historical data, and technical support.
For all three we design the work plan with the faculty so it's academically valid and operationally useful for the sanctuary.
What you do, what you learn
Five practices with field rigor
Forest diagnostic walk
Species identification, regeneration assessment, evaluation of anthropic pressure. Fieldwork applicable to ecology and conservation biology.
Tracked planting
Planting native trees in documented sectors, with coordinate and species records. Useful material for restoration or silviculture theses.
Monitoring protocols
Application of systematic monitoring protocols: transects, camera-trapping, acoustic recordings. You produce real datasets that the foundation uses.
Clinical handling of psittacines
Working alongside the veterinary team: individualized diets, body condition scoring, rehabilitation plans. Applicable to wildlife veterinary medicine.
Enrichment design
Design and evaluation of elements to stimulate natural pre-release behavior. Crossover of ethology, animal welfare, and reintroduction.
Knowledge that matters can't be published without first being walked.
Logistics
Day field trips: groups of up to 30 students with their faculty. Internships and theses: one-on-one, limited by the tutoring team's capacity. Coordinated in advance through an agreement between the faculty and the foundation. For longer stays there's lodging in the sanctuary's infrastructure.
Contribution
The university program brings two critical things to the foundation: knowledge production (theses, datasets, publications) and hands in the field during the weeks of greatest operational pressure. In exchange, students gain a level of immersion no classroom can replicate.
Want to coordinate with your university?
Message us on WhatsApp. We'll design the field trip, internship, or research project with your faculty.