Info for foreign biologists and others interested in Colombia
General Information on Colombia is available all over the web, but one might start with the perhaps the best site in English for information on all aspects of Colombian history, politics, etc.: the U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division page.
Compare Colombia with the World. The NationMaster.com Colombia page provides all manner of statistics and rankings of Colombia relative to the world. (The NationMaster.com website provides information on any other nation, as well as ranks among countries and all manner of correlations between data sets.)
Geography and Biodiversity information can be found at, for example, the Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. See also Biota Colombiana, an online journal published by the Instituto Humboldt. Detailed maps of roads and towns are presented by the Instituto Nacional de Vias, just click on the Department of interest for a close-up map. Also check out a map to Colombia's National Parks. Even more useful, check out this still little-known database containing 234 non-governmental, private, or community-owned nature reserves as compiled by the Asociación Red Colombiana de Reservas Naturales de la Sociedad Civil.
Colombian Airlines:
Avianca, the 2nd oldest commercial airline in the World!
AreoRepublica, recently bought by Copa Airlines.
Aires, mostly domestic, some international.
Satena, specializes in out-of-the-way domestic destinations.
Research, collecting, and export permits are handled by Colombia's Ministerio de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial. Permit information may be found here. Foreigners must have a Colombian collaborator. Believe me, it's not just the law, it's a good idea!
Academic and research institutions with which I have had contact include the following.
First and foremost I want to mention Fulbright Colombia and thank them for their support and friendship.
Universidad de los Andes Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, including the Instituto de Genética and Grupo de Ecofisiologìa del Comportamiento y Herpetología (or GECOH), my hosts for 2006.
Universidad Nacional in Bogotá, including the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, the Instituto de Genética and the Departamento de Biología.
Pontifica Universidad Javeriana, Departamento de Biología, including an excellent program in Ecology and Systematics. Located in Bogotá.
Universidad del Magdalena, located in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast.
COLCIENCIAS is the main governmental funding agency for scientific research.
Conservation International Colombia sponsors a generous amount of research, publishing, and events.
Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales provides free PDF copies of their publications via a searchable webpage. Published by the UNAL.
Information on Colombian amphibians:
Amphibian collection in the ICN, UNAL, Bogotá.
List of Colombian Amphibians 2005 as a PDF, courtesy of the Laboratorio de Herpetología of the Javeriana.
News: The biggest newspaper is El Tiempo in Bogotá.
For the latest English language news from around the world about Colombia, check .
For U.S. citizens, check out the U.S. State Department page that provides information on travel warnings, visa information, etc. See also the U.S. embassy in Bogotá and the Colombian embassy in Washington D.C. U.S. and many other citizens may enter Colombian without a visa and stay for 90 days, renewable up to 180 days.
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