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Life at IPBio and Visiting a Quilombo!

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My name is Marta I came to IPBio all the way from the Canary Islands, in Spain to volunteer with the Tree Mapping and Inventory project. Coming to Brazil was a great experience and one that I will never forget. I have met the most incredible people on the journey and my stay at IPBio couldn’t be better, although it was only for two weeks, I managed to enjoy many aspects of Iporanga and the reserve itself; from the most adventurous to the most relaxing and breathtaking experiences. Even though Iporanga is a tiny village there was always something to do whether it was nature related or leisure wise, plus the locals are extremely friendly. I will always remember the nights we went out looking for bioluminescent mushrooms with Grant, the mushroom volunteer, at full dark during the night in the forest, or also the time that we encountered wild monkeys searching for fruit trees in the reserve, or the times we played football with the kids at the village and at the Quilombo school
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Bioluminescent Mushroom Volunteer and Blue Larva Discovery

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With my time coming quickly to an end at IPBio, there are so many things I will miss about this place. For one, the constant nature. Just outside the door there is forest abound, full of birds of all kinds, mushrooms and some really strange sounding frogs. The diversity of life here is truly mind-boggling. I feel like I see a new type of plant or insect everyday. I would appreciate the latter kept its diversity out of the house however. I will also sorely miss the constant smiles and friendliness of the people here. After growing up in the west coast of the US where people for the most part keep to themselves, the friendly greetings from nearly everyone I pass on the street took some getting used to. People are also surprisingly patient while I struggle to conjure up some Portuguesish sounding sentences. All that time spent on duolingo sure came in handy… I came to the Reserve to work on the bioluminescent mushroom program. How did I get here? I still ask myself that– I never would
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Our Experience as Tree Inventory Volunteers in the Atlantic Forest

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We’ve only stayed at IPBio for a short period, just one month, but this blog-post aims to share some of our experiences from that perspective, and talk about the general process of sorting out a Volunteering stay here in Reserva Betary. Firstly, what’s the place like. We’ve done similar types of programmes in different parts of the world and we can safely say that the accommodation and ease of arrival is the most comfortable we have experienced. And fortunately for potential volunteers, this is only going to get better. During our stay in May 2017, construction was under way for a new and bigger house to expand the Volunteer program. The setting is idyllic if you like the natural state of things, as the Reserve is in the heart of the remains of the Mata-Atlantica in the modern state of Sao Paulo, with the rustling of trees, the rushing river and bird calls being the sounds of the day. Foremost IPBio is a research facility aimed at documenting and evaluating the biodive
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My Highlights at IPBio: Bioacoustics, Glowing Mushrooms and Sunsets

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This morning while annotating audio recordings of the forest, I was suddenly interrupted by a cute, strikingly green hummingbird that found itself stuck inside the building.   As I tried to help the little guy out, I was able to briefly hold it perched on my finger before it finally made its way outside.   I continued working with audio recordings until after lunch, when Imran and I hiked up the steep trail to collect more bioacoustics data, captured a small tree frog inside the volunteer house to release outside, and planned a spontaneous weekend camping trip to PETAR state park with some of the other staff members and volunteers. It’s been two months since I first arrived in Iporanga and I can truly say that no two days here have been a like.   Between the interesting and diverse projects at IPBio and being fully immersed in an environment so different from home, I’m constantly surprised by the things I get to do and experience.   I’ll share a few highlights: Getting caug
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