Catherine Mann Pringle is a distinguished research professor at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia.
Pringle was awarded her first National Science Foundation Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTERB) in Costa Rica in 1985 and has continued to collect data since.
Solute-rich groundwater is associated with underlying volcanic activity, which alters the chemistry of the water through geothermal modification in Puerto Viejo Sarapiquí, a town near La Selva Biological Station.
[5] The town has undergone explosive population growth, which places increased demands on local water supplies, and pesticides from the banana plantations can result in contamination.
[5][6] The program involved volunteer stream monitoring (Adopt-a-Stream), posters to promote awareness of watershed protection and the development of teaching materials.