MSU Forestry Students Return To Costa Rica
As part of a grant through the USDA Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP), Michigan State University (MSU) forestry students are returning to Costa Rica, as part of a full-length hybrid course, where students will work with a community that lives on the edge of the largest private cloud forest in the world.
The department of forestry first began its collaboration with Nacientes Palmichal, a community-run lodge in Palmichal, Acosta, Costa Rica in 2023 as students collaborated in community building and practical, hands-on experience. As part of the Alternative Spartan Breaks program, the group was led by then forestry undergraduate advisor Justin Kunkle.
The Residential College in the Arts and Humanities is now offering a full-semester length hybrid course, Transcultural Relations through the Ages: Design Justice, where students combine remote design sessions and education abroad to engage with autonomous design and other design justice and Latin American sustainability frameworks, concluding the course by traveling to Costa Rica for one week. During this course, students will assess challenges to global sustainability and social justice, particularly in Latin America and apply new ideas about interdisciplinarity that connect program development with the arts and humanities for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. Students will learn how these methods can be extrapolated and used in communities in the U.S.
This is a unique opportunity to return to the country to deepen their understanding of human-forest codependence. Forestry student Corey McKenzie says he’s most looking forward to giving back again: “When I went during spring semester 2025 spring break, I was extremely thankful to give back to the community of Palmichal by working on projects, led by community partners, to further develop the infrastructure of not only Las Nacientes de Palmichal but also the infrastructure of a trail that illuminated the path for hiking up the mountain.”
Another returning student, Isabella Leksche Rosales, says her first trip to Costa Rica taught her a lot about the role of forestry in rural communities as part of their livelihood and economies. “My favorite part of [that trip] was experiencing the different way of life that these people live! Their culture felt a lot more laid-back than the culture in the United States,” she said.