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Aug 30 - Dec 2
Jan 31 - May 5
One semester of college-level ecology, biology, or environmental studies/science
FALL 2021 PROGRAM UPDATE: Due to the ongoing pandemic, the program itinerary and details that you find outlined on this page may shift to accommodate enhanced safety measures, park closures, and thoughtful community interaction. This may include but is not limited to the field sites visited, guest lectures, community visits, and other program activities. We will communicate pre-program changes with students and are available to answer any specific questions regarding this program. You can read more about how SFS is addressing COVID-19 on our programs here.
Study abroad in Australia with SFS and learn about climate change in some of the world’s most ancient ecosystems. The Australian rainforest is rich with biodiversity, and living at our field station in the middle of the rainforest, you’ll be completely immersed in it. Tree kangaroos, cassowaries, rainbow lorikeets, and pademelons are your neighbors as you study conservation, socio-ecological resilience, rainforest management, and impacts on the Great Barrier Reef – the world’s largest living organism, home to a host of iconic marine species such as sea turtles and giant clams. Become a part of large-scale restoration ecology experiments in collaboration with Indigenous groups and community NGOs, and finish the semester with an extensive field research project.
SFS provides a comprehensive study abroad experience during a 6-day/week program schedule. SFS delivers the highest level of support and an unparalleled academic experience.
In addition to the SFS program costs listed to the left, students should plan for additional expenses such as airfare, a passport, visas, medical costs, and personal spending.
Check out the Financial Planner below for an estimated breakdown of these costs along with more information about financially planning for your program abroad with SFS.
Download the Financial PlannerAll students are welcome to apply for our need-based financial aid. Students who exhibit financial need for their program will be offered SFS financial aid. SFS aid is offered through a combination of scholarships, grants and loans.
Pell Grant Match
SFS matches Federal Pell Grant funding for students applying to an SFS semester program.
Many SFS students receive aid through their home institutions or other outside sources, so check with your financial aid office to see what aid may apply to an SFS program.
Learn More about Financial AidCait was raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Cait joined the SFS team in 2017 after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Sociology and Education. During the fall of her junior year, she studied in Florence, Italy. In the heart of Tuscany, she discovered her passion for learning and experiencing through education abroad. Throughout her career, Cait has facilitated a Faculty-Lead Program throughout Ireland and Scotland, served as an International Coordinator for a higher education first year abroad program, and has served in SFS Admissions advising and preparing students for their adventures to the field. Cait loves to share her passion for education abroad with every student she serves, and believes international education is an important part of any student’s undergraduate experience. Cait can’t wait to prepare you for your SFS experience!
Itinerary varies from term to term and is subject to change. Program activities take place 6 days a week with one day free.
This academically rigorous program follows a six-day/week schedule. The interdisciplinary curriculum is designed to help students actively discover and understand the complexities of environmental, social, and economic issues in Australia. Read more about the SFS program model.
Major academic themes include:
On the Rainforest to Reef program, you will take three 4-credit disciplinary courses and a 4-credit capstone Directed Research course. Courses are participatory in nature and are designed to foster inquiry and active learning. Each course combines lectures, field exercises, assignments, tests, and research. All courses are taught in English.
Click on each course to view a description and download the syllabus
This course provides insight into the broad social context surrounding natural resources to determine effective approaches to resource management. Students explore the sociocultural context of resource management including: hierarchies and power structures; formal and informal decision-making processes; value systems relevant to natural resources, including religious factors and environmental ethics; past and present uses of natural resources; economic factors (local, regional, external); ownership patterns; attitudes and other factors that effect change and their historical basis; and legal basis for enforcement of environmental policy. Students are also introduced to major constituencies that effect conservation (NGO conservation groups, economic interests, etc.) and their underlying philosophies.
This course introduces structure and function of tropical rainforests including floral and faunal components. In this course, students explore the ecological processes that maintain biodiversity and the evolutionary processes that generate that biodiversity. We examine the dynamic relationships between plants and animals and how those processes have influenced or are influenced by the current landscape. On a larger scale, we investigate tropical vegetation patterns along climatic gradients and discuss mechanisms for preserving and restoring tropical ecosystems.
This course presents the ecological and analytical tools used in the management of terrestrial, living resources. Students use examples from the tropics to learn the theories that are the foundation for land management, and in particular forest management, worldwide. Students are also introduced to field methods in forest mensuration, and these skills are used to monitor forest health as a case study in natural resource management performance. Students apply their knowledge by participating in long- term research projects that assess the environmental impacts of resource development and monitor the progress and success of restoration and rehabilitation efforts in areas suffering from chronic human-induced disturbances.
This course prepares students to distinguish hidden assumptions in scientific approaches and separate fact from interpretation, cause from correlation, and advocacy from objectivity. Students learn specific tools including: experimental design; field techniques; basic descriptive statistics; and parametric and non-parametric quantitative analysis. Emphasis is placed on succinct scientific writing, graphic and tabular presentation of results, and effective delivery of oral presentations.
You will gain practical skills in the field such as: GIS use and applications, species identification and population monitoring, forest survey methods, citizen science protocols, research design and implementation, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, and research presentation.
You will visit different ecosystems and communities which may include primary and secondary tropical rainforest, the Great Barrier Reef, tropical savanna, wet sclerophyll forests, coastal scrub and mangrove, Melaleuca (paperbark) swamps, Indigenous communities, and local conservation and restoration groups.
In the Directed Research course, each student completes a field research project under the mentorship of a faculty member – beginning with data collection and analysis and concluding with a research paper and presentation. Project subject areas span ecology, natural resource management, conservation science, environmental ethics, and socioeconomics.
Find Out MoreAt the end of a narrow, winding road, in the middle of a lush rainforest, lies this remote field station. Our 153-acre property is surrounded by protected World Heritage forests, and you can see incredible wildlife from the front steps of your cabin. Nearby Yungaburra and Cairns provide the occasional return to civilization.