Education Programs at Rancho Mastatal

A community effort, plastering the exterior walls of La Choza
photo by Aaron Drury

Education

One of our primary goals is to expose our guests and students to the wonders of the rainforest and the beauty of other cultures while teaching them what it means and how to live sustainably. We do this by teaching via a variety of formats that includes workshops, internships and custom-designed project based group programs. We employ hands-on, experiential learning techniques, using the rainforest, the community of Mastatal and our dynamic site as an outdoor classroom and our staff is one of the most diverse, intelligent, energetic and experienced group of instructors anywhere.

Workshops
We offer workshops throughout the year. Our offerings constantly evolve and change but common workshop topics include Bamboo Construction, Permaculture, Fermentation, Agroforestry, Earth Building, Renewable Energy, Wilderness Medicine, Timberframing, Biochar Production, Biodigester Design and Construction, and Indigenous Skills. We are also in the process of developing an amazing set of workshops for our Applied Permaculture and Natural Building Series. Applied permaculture is an evolving set of short courses hosted at top quality learning institutions like Rancho Mastatal. Enrollment is open to all, though PDC graduates may get the most out of it. The concept is to stimulate and develop climate and system specific skills sets for individuals and groups. Learn by doing and share your new skills with your local community.To learn more about our current offerings, please see our Course Calendar.

Internships
We offer 3 and 6-month internships throughout the year. These experiences generally change participants in profound ways as they learn practical and sustainable life skills while living in a community that strives towards a healthier future for people and the planet. Internships are an intense experience that require a great deal of hard work but the benefits are second-to-none. For more information about these programs please see our internship page.

Group Programs
We host middle and high school, college, university and independent groups for much of the year. We work with each group independently to tailor the curriculum to best meet their needs. Our instructors can direct teach, or serve as facilitators for teachers that accompany the group, or both. Trips can range from short stays to an entire semester, with subject matter including but not limited to reforestation, community service, Spanish language, sustainable living, permaculture, rainforest ecology, community development, natural building, and Latin culture. We provide you with many of the educational materials that you will need on site, and will help you identify other needs as we jointly build the program.To learn more about current programs, please see our Course Calendar.

For information about taking Spanish Classes while in Mastatal please visit the Mastatal Spanish School page.

Accommodations
We have a host of beautiful, comfortable, and naturally built structures in which to stay and enjoy. We self-design and build all of our buildings using local materials. Most student groups stay in our bunkhouse named Jeanne's House. Professors, trip leaders and chaperones generally either stay at the Hooch, La Casa de Tiburon, or the Main House. We have a large multi-use classroom space where students can listen to lectures, read, write and relax. We have an extensive library in the main house and fabulous composting toilets and showers that accompany all of our living spaces. And of coursre we have 500 acres of rainforest, waterfalls and rivers where visitors can explore and find inspiration. To learn more about all of our lodging options and other infrastructure please go to our Accommodations page. Group rates are not necessarily reflected here.

Amanda leads the elementary school children of Mastatal in a music enrichment program

Additional Information for Teachers
During middle school, high school, college or university program visits to Rancho Mastatal, students may:

Study the natural history of Costa Rica, including its wildlife, vegetation, geology, weather, and human history.
Visit a local sugar mill and learn about the process of making "tapa dulce" from locally grown sugarcane.
Visit and work on a local organic farm.
Work with goats, hens, ducks and fish and learn about animal husbandry.
Learn about aquaculture and aquaponics.
Learn about Permaculture and participate in projects related to Permaculture.
Learn about natural building and work with natural building materials and techniques.
Participate in any number of community service projects in the community of Mastatal.
Learn how to cook responsibly by using our methane biogester, rocket stove, cob oven, solar cookers and used cooking oil stove.
Visit and learn about the La Cangreja National Park.
Learn about the importance of the world's disappearing rainforests.
Gain an in-depth understanding of ecological concepts such as habitat, land use, range, life cycle, inter-dependency, diet, cycles, adaptations and zones.
Learn how to make their own natural soap.
Learn to make baskets with a local indigenous man.
Prepare typical Costa Rican meals.
Visit and participate in a cultural exchange at the Zapatón Indigenous Reserve.
Gain knowledge about life in a rural community in Central America.
Learn about the importance of medicinal plants.
Gain experience and competence in the Spanish language.
Learn to cook and bake delicious and healthy food.
Learn the importance of fermentation and how to ferment foods.
Reforest a local watershed with local high school students.
Stay with local families to learn about their customs.
Play soccer with the local kids.

The course format can include some or all of the following teaching methods:

Field Lessons — Topics can span the scope of ecology and science. A typical field lesson will be hands-on and given on a hike or in the field.
Instructor Led Hikes — These easy to moderate hikes will be planned and led by the staff and/or instructors. Local guides often accompany the group. Emphasis is on awareness of the plants, trees and animals of the forest.
Student Presentations — These can be 15-30 minute presentations prepared by students. Students can be given an extensive list of 'Ecology of Tropical Forest' or other subjects to choose from and can present their work as a way to not only learn themselves, but to educate the rest of the class.
Language Training — Can be tailored according the students level and proficiency. All students are encouraged to at least try and communicate with members of the local communities. Texts are generally not required, but can and should be if Spanish language is the main or only objective of the course.
Nightly Meetings — Here students can share what they have seen, experienced, and learned.
Standard Lectures — We can bring in a host of guest lecturers to speak on any number of topics related to our programs. Lecturers include professors from Earth University, the University of Costa Rica, the National University, local innovative farmers, regional environmental leaders, Costa Rican natural builders, and visiting professors and professionals. In addition, we are prepared to lecture about local issues, regional environmental problems, sustainability in the Tropics and the current state of affairs in Mastatal, the La Cangreja National Park, and the surrounding communities.

We work and have worked with numerous middle schools, high schools, colleges, universities, and non-profit and for-profit organizations across the country including the University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Seattle University, Seattle, WA; The Center High School, Seattle, WA; Villanova University, Villanova, PA; the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota; The University of Washington Tacoma Campus, Tacoma, WA; University for Peace, Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica; Girl Scouts of Western Washington, Seattle, WA; The Marion Institute, Marion, MA; La Fundacion Ecotropica, Puriscal, Costa Rica; The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; Butte College, Oroville, CA; Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu, HI; the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Warren, VT; Solar Energy International, Carbondale, CO; Earthen Hand Natural Building, Portland, OR; and Aerie School for Backcountry Medicine, Missoula, MT. We would be happy to put you in contact with these organizations if you would like to speak with them directly about their experiences in Mastatal.

For a list of current programs and events, please see our Events Calendar.

Timo and Robin

Instructors
Timothy O'Hara and Robin Nunes
Tim and Robin, the founders, owners and directors of the Ranch, do an extensive amount of teaching throughout the year and are seasoned educators with a passion for their work, community and site. Tim is well-versed in topics ranging from earth building to wilderness medicine. He is one of the Ranch's main animal caretakers, runs the biodigester and alternative cooking projects, and plays in a key role in most community and food production projects. Robin's passions include nutrition, fermented foods, earth plasters and medicinal plants. In addition to being a full-time mother, she runs the Ranch's cooking and earth building operations and is a gifted designer. Tim and Robin started Rancho Mastatal together in November of 2001 and have been teaching in their current capacity ever since. Please click on their names above to learn more about them.

Permaculture Workshop - Front Garden

Christopher Shanks
Chris has over 12 years of experience in Central America with Permaculture design and implementation. After a three-year stint in Costa Rica apprenticing throughout the country he joined Project Bona Fide (www.projectbonafide.com). Chris currently co-directs Project Bona Fide and is the farm manager and chief designer and master-planner of the site. He has spent most of the last seven and half years developing the site's agro-forests, agro-ecologies, educational programs, research facilities, and natural building examples with the passionate help of hundreds of volunteers, interns, as well as a wonderful and dedicated local staff. Chris has extensive experience in botany, horticulture, poly-cultures, ethno-botany, natural building and construction, water management and purification as well as renewable energy systems. Chris has worked professionally in the US and abroad in the fields of site design, master-planning, and permaculture design. Currently Chris owns and operates a small design build firm called: Living Systems Solutions LLC in Nicaragua. It is a triple bottom line business founded and run on Permaculture principles. Chris has also worked extensively in the field of design in the temperate regions in the frigid cold states of Vermont and New York state as well as the temperate states of Washington and California and has lived and traveled in Spain and Thailand as well as worked and designed in the Bahamas for many years. Chris' experience and training spring from a deep passion for all things green and good and an intense desire to co-create a regenerative landscape for all beings for all time. He is the product of all the wonderful teachers and mentors he has been fortunate to have and is eager to share what he has learned.

Scott Gallant
Scott Gallant is an aspiring food system designer from Harrison, Ohio. He graduated from Wabash College in 2008 with a degree in Economics. Since graduating, he and his partner Laura have traveled and volunteered extensively in Latin America. Prior to arriving at Rancho Mastatal to study natural building, they hitchhiked from the U.S.-Mexico border to Panama, studied Spanish in Guatemala, and led hikes in Nicaragua. Over the past several years he has become passionate about tropical agriculture while working with an amazing group to build the Ranch's food production systems. In the past he has worked as a sustainability consultant and led backcountry trail crews in Colorado. When not talking about plants he enjoys playing Ukulele, basketball, cycling over mountains, camping, and living with as minimal impact on this planet as possible.

Martin Coto

Martin Coto
Martín is a master craftsman, designer and one of Costa Rica’s most well-know bamboo builders with 30 years of experience working with this medium. He has worked both nationally and internationally and has his name associated with numerous buildings throughout the world including a few at Rancho Mastatal. He's amazingly skilled with a wonderful sense of humor. He runs his own business named Desarrollos Ecouristicos Bambues S.A. based in Moravia, Costa Rica.

Laura Killingbeck
Laura is wildly passionate about food, nutrition, and whole systems health. She has a BA in Sociology and Philosophy from the University of Rhode Island and is a current Wilderness First Responder. She worked previously as a superhero mascot, a sawyer, and a sustainability consultant. Laura spent several years traveling through Latin America by thumb, boat, bike, and bus before landing at the Ranch with her partner Scott in 2009. She spends her days concocting live culture ferments, curing vanilla, planting rhizome guilds, and living in community.

Dave McEvoy

Dave McEvoy, Director of Aerie School for Backcountry Medicine
Paramedic, BA, Bates College, MS, Biology, University of Montana, co-founder of Aerie. He has worked for the past twenty years with the Student Conservation Association and numerous other outdoor organizations. David is a former member Missoula County Sheriff's Search and Rescue and fisheries biologist with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. He is a paramedic with Missoula Emergency Services ambulance service, has served as their Training Officer and directed their paramedic education program. He teaches paramedic anatomy and physiology at the University of Montana cadaver lab. David and his wife, Andrea, have found new meanings for the term Risk Management from their two young daughters.

Lizabeth Moniz
Lizabeth began exploring structure, the limitations of structure, and building with natural materials at a young age by constructing forts and hideaways in her family’s woods. At university getting her BFA, she worked in cabinet and custom woodworking shops building furniture. Knowing from a young age that some day she eventually wanted to build her own home, she gleaned a wealth of knowledge by becoming a carpenter and building many other peoples homes and finally co-building her own home. Teaching in the Peace Corps, public schools, Women Build, Youthbuild, and Yestermorrow Design/Build School, gave her ability to work with different populations and age groups. As a wilderness trip leader, she saw how other creatures built their forts. Lizabeth currently teaches classes in carpentry, landscape design, natural building, home design/build, timber-framing, woodworking, and is a self-employed builder and landscape designer. Eventually receiving her MA in Landscape Design helped her to envision and design structures and landscapes as being integrated holistically and working together.

Skip

Skip Dewhirst
Skip is a co-founder of Meerkat Design and Handwork. He is a furnituremaker and timberframer who also explores his passion for wood by designing and building guitars, carving and boatbuilding. Skip has been teaching folks of all ages about working with wood for over twenty years. He has been leading natural building workshops at Rancho Mastatal for over a decade and has been the principle design/build consultant for the Ranch's diverse building projects. Skip also enjoys growing food, teaching kids about wilderness skills and going for long walks in the woods. He's an incredible resource and person.

Brian Erickson

Brian Erickson
Originally from northern Wisconsin, Brian graduated from U.W. Madison and fled to warmer climes. In the San Francisco Bay Area he lived and worked for years as a carpenter/craftsman/toymaker. In 1986 he and his wife, Patricia, participated in the activities of the Bay Area Construction Brigade, a volunteer organization in solidarity with the people of Nicaragua during the Contra War. They also happened across David Farrelly's Book of Bamboo at the local library, and a letter from Patricia brought him to their door, full of stories about Nicaragua. In brief, after spending six weeks in the campo outside of Esteli with the Brigade, Patricia was in love with Central America and Brian had met his first great clump of tropical bamboo. After that, it was no more than a year before they had sold everything in the Bay Area and driven to Nicaragua where they teamed up with a small, ambitious but very inexperienced bamboo project near Matagalpa. Next stop was Moín, Costa Rica, where Brian spent a year with the Taiwanese Bamboo Technical Mission, learning traditional furniture-making techniques using Phyllostachys aurea. Here Patricia began to paint the scenes from daily life in this Afro-Caribbean setting that were to make her famous. They were accompanied by a Nicaraguan weaver from Masaya who studied weaving with Taiwanese masters.During this period the Sandinistas were voted out and at the same time the bamboo project there lost its funding, so that after graduating from the Mission the weaver went back home, but Brian and Patricia stayed on in Costa Rica.A year later Brian began working as prototype furniture designer for the National Bamboo Project at Los Diamantes in Guapiles. After that Project too expired in 1999, he set up his own bamboo farm and workshop on the Rio Blanco west of Guapiles where he and Patricia live and work today.

Fernando Giaccaglia

Fernando Giaccaglia
Wilderness EMT-B, Fernando comes from the city of Mar del Plata in Argentina. He spent his earlier years as world-class competitive swimmer and triathelete. Toward the end of his professional athletic career, Fernando visited Costa Rica and joined Coast to Coast Adventures as a Lead Guide. Fernando now welcomes visitors to world-class rivers, mountain biking and hiking in remote areas. Fernando is an incredible naturalist and teacher. He instructs our wilderness medicine classes in Spanish and translated Aerie's Wilderness First Responder manual for those courses.

Art Donnelly

Art Donnelly
Art Donnelly earned an MFA in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of design. For the past twenty years he has been a working metal artist. Art Donnelly is a co-founder and President of the Seattle, Washington, USA, non-profit : SeaChar.Org. SeaChar's global mission is to develop, promote and share positive tools for carbon negative living. Teaching has always been central to SeaChar's mission. To date more than 350 people have taken our Biochar/Stove building workshops. For the past two years Art has been the Director of the Estufa Finca (Farm Stove) Project in Costa Rica. He developed the Estufa Finca in 2010 to be used by migrant Ngobe coffee bean pickers. The Estufa Finca cook-stove has been tested in the laboratory and on the finca, it uses 50% less wood, burns 92% cleaner and produces a highly adsorbent biochar. SeaChar is currently working with cacao farmers and processors in the Talamaca region to introduce biochar and biochar technology. You can learn more about SeaChar and the Estufa Finca Project at www.seachar.org.

Liz Johndrow

Liz Johndrow

Liz Johndrow of Earthen Endeavors Natural Building has been building and teaching for several years. She has worked with all kinds of materials and techniques and is currently collaborating with Kleiwerks International and WASI teaching a 4 month women's natural building apprenticeship. She also co-leads timber framing workshops with Sarah Highland of Highland Artisans and enjoys all things mud, particularly all types of plasters. Check out her website for more of her vision and her work. www.earthenendeavors.com

Nicole smiling in front of the Choza

Nicole Esclamado
Before arriving at the Ranch, Nicole worked for four years at a small bioengineering lab in Los Angeles, California and graduated from Harvey Mudd College with a B.S. in biology. Her senior thesis studied the differentiation of adult human stem cells into neurons on a wound-healing scaffold to treat neurological diseases and traumatic brain injury. With the introduction of novel substances into one's body, the thesis branched out into assessing the immune response to a bacterial insult and different biomaterials. While it did produce some exciting specific results, Nicole couldn't help being bowled over by the big-picture message that this work showed again and again: the human body is amazing in its ability to regenerate and the immune system is endlessly complex, intricate and beautiful. Nicole's fascination with the immune system, both of the human body and the Earth, and the magic of fermentation grows daily with the bubbling of kefir grains, the breakdown of bokashi, and the rumbling ruminations of our small goat herd.

Peter Kring

Peter Kring
Peter Kring is an agroecologist, farmer, and orchardist with decades of experience in permaculture design. In his own words, “I'd been a life-long hobby gardener/agronomist before coming to Costa Rica 25 years ago to create a small, sustainable growing project, with the goal of earning a respectable standard of living using a family farm model. Initially, the project was most heavily influenced by the teachings of Fukuoka. We produce many kinds of tropical fruits, black pepper, vanilla, ornamental plants, and artisan chocolate. Our farm is heavily diversified but some carefully chosen cash crops have made it financially successful. For our critically important message to attract the attention of the common farmer our projects need to be financially viable. My greatest pleasure has been to plant a seed, watch a tree grow, see it flower, and taste the first fruit!" You can learn more about Peter, his permaculture farm Finca La Isla, and the work he and his family have done over the past 25 years at their website: http://www.costaricacaribbean.com/

Gerardo - Farmer, Basketweaver, Medicine Man

Gerardo Perez
Gerardo was born and raised on the Zapaton Indigenous Reserve and is as knowledgeable about our forests as anyone in the region. He's a community leader, father and wife and commonly teaches basketweaving, medicinal plant and indigenous skills classes at the Ranch. He's a wealth of information and is leading the efforts in his community to rescue his people's heritage. Elders of the Huetar tribe are working hard to assure that their young adults take pride in their indigenous roots and Gerardo's small museum in Zapaton is one of his small efforts to teach visitors about his people's dignified past. We're proud to have Gerardo on our team and plan on incorporating him and his wisdom into more class offerings in the future.

Joaquin Vizquez
Joaquin is currently a professor at EARTH University in Guapiles, Costa Rica where he teaches about waste management and biogas production. He also is the founder and owner of the company Viogaz in Costa Rica. Joaquin has been working with the Ranch in an effort to increase biogas production as we work towards a propane-free environment. Joaquin has degrees from EARTH University and the Colorado School of Mines. He has also consulted for Partners in Health.

Simon
photo by Francisco

Simon Evers
Simon has lived at Rancho Mastatal for the last 1.5 years leading up the food production transformation in Mastatal. Part of this work has included acting as a sort of liaison between the Ranch and local farmers in Mastatal strengthening mutually beneficial working relationships and friendships while contributing one way or another to bountiful harvests on local fincas of which a fair share makes it into the Ranch kitchen and onto the plates of guests and residents. Through this he has developed strong Spanish speaking abilities. He's an impassioned farmer and permaculture practitioner and has dedicated his life to food sovereignty and security in the tropics. Early in life Simon worked with his father on construction sites in and around Seattle where he gained experience in basic carpentry and became adept and competent using many tools. As a teenager he spent summers working as a deckhand on charter fishing boats in Alaska and would later move on to working large commercial seining vessels from Cook Inlet to Dutch Harbor and the Bering Sea. Through his work in construction and as a fisherman he developed a strong work ethic early in life reflecting hard work, dedication, and attention to detail. During the years 2009-2010 Simon studied at the Motorcycle Mechanic Institute in Pheonix, Arizona where he became certified as a Harley Davidson and Kawasaki technician. After working for a large Harley Davidson dealership during the latter year he was studying, Simon decided to honor the longing he felt to pursue his deeper inspirations he found in permaculture design, self reliance, culture, and adventure. For two years he traveled in a quest to deepen his understanding of the world. He sought to gain perspective and experience in what it means to live from the land in ecologically sound ways, to live simply, and to take the responsibility for the energy one consumes and the waste one creates. In his journeys he farmed in Spain and Bulgaria, visited North Africa, sailed the Mediterranean, crossed the U.S. on bicycle, sailed the Bahamas and volunteered in Haiti. Since he has been living in Central America he has visited permaculture projects in Panama and Nicaragua including living for one month at a permaculture farm in Nicaragua (Finca Bonafide) as an apprentice in agro-forestry and nursery techniques. In his travels combined with his work with Rancho Mastatal he has gained valuable insight into what it takes; what it means to use permaculture ethics and principles to foster vibrant and resilient community and create abundance.

Internior of classroom

We work with a host of other local, regional, national and international professionals throughout the year who assist us with our instruction and educational programs. We firmly believe that everyone that is affiliated with the Ranch has something to teach and offer and we do our utmost to foster an environment that encourages an open exchange of information and ideas.

COSTS
Rancho Mastatal works with you directly to cost out your trip. We have been running successful educational programs since 2001 and we feel that we offer the most affordable and powerful programs in the country. The total cost of your visit will depend on a variety of factors such as the length of your program; whether you choose to participate in excursions away from the Ranch; your needs from us such as assistance with logistics, programming or translation; and the number of participating students. Our basic rates include three meals per day (except dinners on Sunday when we patronize the only local restaurant in town), snacks, lodging, and full access to our facilities. You will also need to factor in the costs associated with in-country transportation which we can arrange or help arrange. Additional costs may include fees for guides, entrance fees to parks and reserves, fees for local field trips, and travel and liability insurance. Activities such as whitewater rafting, horseback riding, and mangrove tours can be included in the price of the trip or offered as optional activities. For a list of potential activities to include as part of your trip please go to our Activities page.

No extra money is needed once the kids are in Mastatal, though most students like to purchase souvenirs, gifts, and snacks while in country.

Airfare expenses of course vary according to the departure city and date of travel. Tom McDonald can handle your airline reservations, or you can make them yourself.

There are many ways to defer the overall costs of the trips. These include fundraisers, raffles, community donations, and grants. Get creative!

Students need to carry a valid and current passport.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Costa Rica
Tim O'Hara and Robin Nunes
Rancho Mastatal
Apdo. 185-6000
Puriscal, COSTA RICA
011 (506) 2200-0920
info@ranchomastatal.com
http://www.facebook.com/ranchomastatal

USA
Robert Tournay/TAE
740 N. 68th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
206-660-4193
tae2001@seanet.com