Studying, interning, volunteering, or coordinating a program at Iracambi provides you with a fantastic opportunity to be part of a lifestyle that is likely very different from what you are used to. You will be sharing the campus space with people of different nationalities, backgrounds, skills, ages and interests - not to mention a few bugs! We invite you to take responsibility for your own work, experience, lifestyle, and for your fellow Iracambistas and their research projects. If students and volunteers have their their own pet study project or particular passion, that’s great, and we're happy to support them in that. If they have a brilliant idea for something we could or ought to do, let’s see if we can do it! Familiarity with Arc GIS and some Portuguese would be an advantage, but it's more important to have an inquiring mind and good organizational skills - both with people, projects, and data management.  

The Research Center is located on a working farm, which includes a large area of native forest as well as tree crops, succession forests, swamp lands and high altitude pastures. There are rivers to swim in, mountains to climb, forest trails to hike, and a welcoming local community. You won’t have the bright lights of a big city. But you will have the chance to make friends for life. You’ll be living on our rainforest campus, and eating delicious local food cooked by Larissa – who is more than happy to supply vegetarian or vegan options on request. The Research Center has one central dorm, five four-bed cabins, a field lab, a classroom, our multi-use Forest House, a system of forest trails, and our forest and agroecology plots. We have 24-hour access to internet – except during thunderstorms, when we power down in order to protect the equipment! 

A little background.    

The Atlantic Forest stretches from the northeastern to the southern regions of Brazil and northern Argentina and southeastern Paraguay. Five hundred years ago, it covered approximately 330 million acres, but today only 7- 8% remains. And we are determined to protect and restore what we can. Because these forests harbor an extraordinarily high rate of biodiversity, including 2,200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians - 5% of all the vertebrates on earth. And new species are still being discovered!

Iracambi is adjacent to the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park, one of the highest conservation priority areas in the state, and home to the largest population of the woolly spider monkey Brachyteles hypoxanthus – the most endangered and arguably the most adorable of the New World Primates. You may be lucky enough to spot one, particularly if you hang out with Leandro who can be found a little farther up the mountain! If you are with us at the right time of year, he can also involve you in harvesting the local version of the superfruit acai jussara.