Main Campus

The main campus area encompasses 5 areas:

Academic and research facilities

Includes three multiuse classrooms, field biology lab, GIS lab. High speed internet available.

Residential Facilities for Students

Includes 4 bungalow-style units with capacity for 16 students per unit and a total capacity for 64 students; each bungalow has a private bathroom. The economically-priced bunkhouse (22 pax) is also available with shared bathrooms that are separated by gender

Residential Facilities for Faculty

Includes two faculty houses with capacity for 6 persons in each house

Ecolodge

Includes 12 cabinas for faculty and visitors. Each cabina has up to 4 beds and a private bathroom

Other facilities

Includes the student union (with dining hall, library and gathering area), laundry and administration building.

Intern and Researcher Village

Includes 5 casitas and 4 double rooms. Shared bathrooms.

Forest Reserve

Not all rain forests in the tropics are jungles. Cloud forests are rain forests located in the montane region. Montane forests are humid and cool, with the average annual temperature ranging close to 20°C (68°F). The Monteverde Cloud Forest protects one of the most biodiverse and endangered ecosystems on the planet. It is home to more than 3,200 species of plants, 450 species of birds, and 98 species of mammals. What makes this particular cloud forest special is the fact that its preservation has been made possible thanks to local communities. In fact, the Monteverde Cloud Forest is a network of contiguous forests owned and managed by local organizations and individuals. UGACR’s forest is part of this larger tract of forest. The campus encompasses 50 hectares of forest on the Pacific slope of Monteverde, which showcase a stunning amount of biodiversity and can be explored from a network of about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) of maintained trails. Our forest is also part of the Costa Rican Network of Private Preserves.

Farm

Small farms play a key role in food security in the tropics. These farms are highly productive and provide not only food, but also fuel, biomass and ecosystems services. UGACR runs one of the most comprehensive integrated farms in Costa Rica, where an average of 20% of the food that is consumed in the campus cafeteria annually is produced onsite. Produce from the farm includes fruits, vegetables, pork, beef, milk, eggs, and poultry. The farm produces biogas, compost, biofertilizers, and cultures of Local Effective Microorganisms, and is operated under the principles of climate-smart agriculture. It serves as a living lab where research and innovation processes are being developed in order to maintain and sustainably increase the farm’s productivity, without jeopardizing the ecological integrity of the landscape. Many of the sustainable practices developed in the integrated farm (e.g. biodigesters) are being transferred to other local farms, where another 25% of the food that is consumed on campus (on average) is produced.