2008 Costa Rica Expedition Leaders: Liz Delaney and Michael HillWildlife & Conservation
Liz Delaney. Boston College, B.S.; The George Washington University, M.Ed. Liz is a Costa Rica-based naturalist and educator. She majored in Biology with a focus on ecology and environmental science at Boston College, where she was one of nine students selected to participate in the Environmental Scholars Program, co-authoring research on the environmental effects of factory farming. Liz spent a semester in Costa Rica and conducted an independent research project in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, focusing her research on territorial behaviors of understory birds. She worked as an environmental consultant and as an inner city high school science teacher in Washington, D.C through the DC Teaching Fellows Program, before returning to Costa Rica in 2004 to teach at The Cloud Forest School (Centro de Educación Creativa) in Monteverde. There she helped student design and construct the first ever high school student-run biodiesel processing unit in Costa Rica. Currently the Environmental Education Project Director at The Cloud Forest School, Liz is in charge of environmental curriculum development and assessment. She has traveled widely in Latin America and especially Costa Rica, where she has spent time in ten of the country’s celebrated national parks and twice climbed Chirripó, its highest mountain. Liz is an avid runner and hiker and has competed in two Costa Rican half-marathons. She is fluent in Spanish
Photography
Michael Hill. University of California, Irvine, B.A.; Columbia University, M.F.A. candidate. Michael is a New York-based photographer and filmmaker. He graduated with honors in History and Film Studies from UC Irvine, where he was a teaching and technical assistant in the department of Media Studies. He spent a semester abroad in Madrid, Spain, and participated in “Silk Road to the Future,” a cultural exchange program to Beijing and Shanghai, China. Michael worked as a production intern on NBC TV’s “Scrubs,” and as a day-camp counselor and coordinator for the city of Huntington Beach, California, where he grew up. At Columbia, where he is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Film Directing, he has served as a teaching assistant, an equipment room technician and a department research assistant in addition to producing five short films and serving as cinematographer for eleven others. Michael conducted film workshops for Panasonic Kids Witness News, and wrote/directed/shot a documentary, “Autism: Hope After Diagnosis.” He works as a professional photographer in New York, shooting portraits, weddings, on-set photography, and event photography. He has traveled extensively and is a talented travel photographer and musician. He studied martial arts and was an Eagle Scout. The son of Costa Rican and North American parents, Michael is proficient in Spanish.
