Committed to Diminishing Deforestation

The Forman School Rainforest Project is a nonprofit program dedicated to rainforest education through scientific research with young adults from northwest Connecticut high schools. Our program’s philosophy is contributing to science and providing needed information on endangered species. The Rainforest Project started in 1992 as an exploration of the tropics. Since its inception, great strides have been made in gathering pertinent information in a professional way for universities and museums alike.

Project Director: Wendy Welshans P’24 (Science Teacher and Director of Outdoor Leadership and the Rainforest Project)
Project Assistant: Arthur Thompson P’29 (Science Teacher)
Team Manager: Lily Chen (Chair of the Thinking and Writing Department)
Other Researchers: Alex Shepack, Megan Patterson, and Mike Patterson
Birds Team: Cecily Cooper ’26, Verity Hannan ’26, and Bennett Silverstry ’26
Reptiles and Amphibians Team: Kit Freeman ’27, Henry Ganse ’26, Jessica Sit ’26, and Sammy Sperber ’27
Wild Cats Team: Logan Horn ’26 and Vijay Walter ’26

Updates from the Rainforest

March 14, 2026: 31 years and still finding new species information and building confidence through field work!

March 13, 2026: Caught and ate fish for dinner last night. Hiked out this morning!

March 12, 2026: Hiking out today! So much success with all projects​!
We have tracked numerous wildcat species, banded over 100 birds, processed some very rare amphibian species, and had a blast together, working night and day.

March 10, 2026: The Wild Cats Team captured a jaguarundi on camera—very exciting! The Bird Team has been catching around 30 birds a day since we moved base camps, including incredible species like the mountain thrush. Today, a toucan even flew into their nets.

March 9, 2026: The Wild Cats Team is finding wild cat signs, but not on the camera traps as of yet.

The Reps and Amphs Team caught the rare species of dark-footed tree frog. The mission was to monitor this species- we’re excited its population is still intact.

The Bird Team caught a favorite for the day: the yellow-thighed brush finch.

March 9, 2026:

March 9, 2026: Hello from 10,000 ft!

March 8, 2026: We hiked into Cuerici last night – around 630’. Great entrance to our new base camp – we’re at 9000’! Much colder – 49 degrees last night!

March 7, 2026: Wild Cats Team footage of 2 ocelots and a puma. Epic footage of nocturnal species in the largest tract of continuous rainforest in Costa Rica!

March 6, 2026: The Wild Cats Team captured footage of a Tayra on a trail camera.

March 5, 2026: The Reptiles and Amphibians Team’s favorite catches include the swamp tree frog, coffee snake, and pug-nosed anole. The Birds Team’s highlights include the black-faced solitaire, wood thrush, and bananaquit. Meanwhile, the Wild Cats Team is tracking large Puma concolor and observing plenty of prey for the cats, including coati and agouti.

March 4, 2026: The Birds Team caught some favorites today, including the clay-colored thrush, slaty antwren, and wedge-billed woodcreeper. The Reptiles and Amphibians Team’s favorite species caught so far include the pug-nosed anole, Halloween snake, and O’Shaughnessy’s Galliwasp.

March 3, 2026: We jumped into research right away here. The Birds Team has six nets up and is already processing birds, the Wild Cats Team has 17 trail cameras up, and the Reptiles and Amphibians Team caught 17 herps last night and will be processing them this morning.

Watch a video highlighting the 2024-2025 Rainforest Project and celebrating the 30th anniversary of the program!

Thank you to our sponsors!

Featured On

Forman School’s Rainforest Project and our work with spider silk was featured on BBC’s show “Animal Impossible” in 2020. You can find the episode, “Spiders,” on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.