The opportunity to have breakfast while watching wild animals such as agoutis and coatis roaming free outside was one of the many attractions available to students participating in this year’s World ORT Ecology Summer School in Panama.

Twenty-seven ORT students aged 15 to 17 from nine of our Latin American and Spanish schools in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, along with ORT teachers Agustina Prola (Argentina) and Susan Siow (Spain), signed up for the two-week regional Spanish-language summer school in the Gamboa Rainforest in Soberania National Park.

The program gave the students, who are passionate about ecology, the opportunity to study different aspects of Panamanian biodiversity with experts from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Adopta Bosque, a non-profit NGO promoting rainforest conservation, conducting scientific ecological research.

The students developed and refined research questions, hypotheses and work methodologies under the advice of the expert instructors Dr Chelina Batista, Ana Portugal Loayza and Ryan Oneil. They split into six groups for the research projects looking at reptiles, pollinators, bats, ants and the relationship between plants and animals in specific locations.

They accumulated measurements, drawings and photographs of the species under investigation and were able to view animals and plants they had not seen before, for example, Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth, the harpy eagle – the national bird of Panama – and different species of monkeys and birds.

They heard from experts Judy and Dr. Dan Dourson on tropical land snails and their roles in the tropical ecosystem and viewed samples with a magnifying camera. Josué Ortega, a mammal specialist from Panama, taught them additional skills for scientific field research, while sloth specialist Ryan Cano enthralled them with a talk on the genetic variability of the Panama Pygmy sloth.

Bird specialist Jorge Garzón talked about his research, while Macario Gonzalez spoke about the reptiles and amphibians of Panama and Adopta Bosque founder Guido Berguido gave a presentation about the conservation of rainforest biodiversity. The students also met the mayor of Panama City, Jewish entrepreneur Mayer Mizrachi, who encouraged them to excel in their scientific pursuits.

Rodrigo, a student from Brazil, said: “The [paleontological] excavation, breaking the rocks, was something I really wanted to do all my life. The trip to the cloud forest was stunning. My research project on ants, working with my team and the teachers who helped us – it was all really good.”

As important as the students’ scientific work was their forming of connections across cultures and borders. They bonded over the sharing of information about their own heritage and culture, including about music, sport and school life, and a trip highlight was the meaningful Shabbat ceremony officiated by World ORT’s Daniel Tysman and Gaynor Collins.

This was followed by a discussion led by Bernardo from Mexico about some teachings and dilemmas, which generated great interest among the students.

After a special dinner, Alona from Barcelona organized games for a joyful atmosphere.

Student Ezequiel from Panama said: “My highlight of the trip was Shabbat, sharing that special moment with each other. It was really well-planned.”

Daniel Tysman, Head of World ORT’s Education Department, said: “When the rainforest becomes their classroom, the learning becomes supercharged. In the evenings, our group gets to meet and interrogate some of the leading authorities on different aspects of ecology.

“It’s not unusual for teachers at the Summer School to stay up late to make sure students stop working on their projects and go to bed. The whole experience is really unique and in addition to the learning, in just a few days, memorable experiences were shared and many great friendships were made.”

After refining their work following feedback from teachers, the students took turns presenting their research projects, with each group delivering an excellent presentation, demonstrating great teamwork, confidence, and thorough preparation.

The trip also afforded the students the chance to see some of the sights of Panama, including the Oleoducto trail (the historic ‘Pipeline’ road that crosses the country, providing unparalleled access to the heart of the rainforest), where they saw diverse plants and animals, such as the woodpecker, the black-chested booby and the howler monkey. They dug for fossilised prehistoric sea creatures in excavated earth from the canal widening, met indigenous residents of the Embera village and visited the Summit Municipal Park, a botanical garden with facilities for the rescue and rehabilitation of exotic and native wildlife.

Elan, a student from Colombia, said: “Apart from all the fun and good moments I had with my new friends, I think the highlight was to push our limits, not only physical but also our knowledge. I had never written a scientific paper before, climbed a mountain to the cloud forest and dug for fossils, so I really felt pushed to my limits.”