ALAP — Aire Limpio Agua Pura (or Clean Air Clean Water) — was established to connect institutions of higher education that have made climate leadership commitments with on-the-ground NGO partners in Costa Rica that are already working on carbon capture and climate resiliency projects. Far beyond simply purchasing a carbon offset and meeting emissions reduction targets, ALAP programs offer institutions of higher education opportunities to involve students and faculty with on-going international conservation and sustainable rural development projects.
Overseas projects are both challenging and rewarding. ALAP offers program development and facilitation, helping colleges and universities develop engaging education abroad programs, research projects, and directed internships with our Costa Rican NGO partners. With a broad network of NGO partners, ALAP can help match specific institutional interests with the most appropriate on-the-ground partner institution. Our goal is to develop on-going collaborations through which students and faculty plant trees, measure and monitor growth and survival, install biodigesters, participate in agro-forestry projects, directly assist the NGOs’ efforts through internships, carry out related graduate thesis projects, and more. One of the value-added benefits of ALAP projects is the international cultural immersion experience. Setting up international projects can be a challenge, however with decades of experience working both in education abroad and conservation in Costa Rica, Dr. Newcomer makes the logistics of ALAP programs easy for our partner institutions.
Carbon capture projects in Costa Rica will directly count toward institutional carbon reduction commitments. ALAP was created to support the Offset Network initiative “to facilitate and catalyze high-integrity, unique offset projects that provide educational and research opportunities for students, faculty, and staff by connecting peer institutions and aggregating best practices” (Offset Network website, 2018). The Offset Network provides outstanding resources for new project development and established protocols. ALAP helps to translate the guidance and support of the Offset Network into functional offset projects in Costa Rica.
ALAP director, Dr. Quint Newcomer
Quint has lived and worked in Costa Rica for over 25 years. He has served as director of both the Monteverde Institute (1995-1998) and UGA Costa Rica (2005-2016), overseeing the administration of hundreds of education abroad programs serving many thousands of students. He initiated the UGA Costa Rica reforestation and carbon offset program, which included teaching field-based education abroad programs dedicated to monitoring of reforestation sites. Quint supervised student interns in the development of a carbon calculator to measure and annually track the total emissions balance for the UGA Costa Rica campus. In 11 years with UGA Costa Rica, he supervised more than thirty student research and internship projects, including multiple master’s and PhD dissertation research committees, many of which were related to sustainability, conservation, reforestation, and carbon offset work in Costa Rica.
Quint earned Master of Environmental Management and PhD degrees from the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.