The Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center / CATIE

CATIE is both a university and a dynamic research center dedicated to empowering rural men and women in Latin America and the Caribbean and protecting the biodiverse environments in which they live and work. CATIE is one of only a handful of regional institutions in the world combining scientific research, graduate education, and training as it rolls up its sleeves to direct hands-on projects that produce tangible results.

Our work focuses primarily on the tropics – specifically Latin America and the Caribbean. Sustainable tropical agriculture is important to protect the environment and to provide a living wage to the rural population in these areas. With that in mind, CATIE works to develop sustainable resource management strategies and viable alternatives, allowing natural resources to be used in a responsible, sustainable manner.

CATIE is headquartered in an agricultural area in Turrialba, 40 miles east of Costa Rica's capital of San Jose. The 2,655-acre center includes:

• laboratories
• research farms
• an important seed bank and germplasm collection of tropical crops
• a botanical garden containing more than 400 species from around the world
• a 400,000 volume library
• a fully functional campus environment with ample classrooms, offices, faculty and student housing

Since its inception, CATIE has produced more than 1,700 M.Sc. and Ph.D. graduates from 43 countries, most from Latin America and the Caribbean but also from the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. Each day these graduates continue to ensure the ecological health of the American tropics and the rural peoples who call the tropics home.

In addition, CATIE boasts 120 students in the master's program, more than half of whom are women, and the doctoral program includes 33 students. Of CATIE's total student population, 60 percent are from low-income families.