Sample Itinerary

Itinerary varies from term to term and is subject to change. Program activities take place 6 days a week with one day free.

• Week 1: Welcome to Australia! Move into cabins, meet roommates, and attend program orientation. Start classes with a visit to the Atherton Tablelands and tree planting with a local conservation group.
• Week 2: Lectures on terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the Wet Tropics, plant identification, animal behavior, and ecological processes in the rainforest. Excursion to Mandingalbay Yidinji (MY) country to learn about the Indigenous MY people’s approach to conservation. Snorkeling at Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
• Week 3: Intro to research and field work: attend lectures on survey design, social science research, field measurement techniques, and scientific writing. First data collection exercise in the field. Week finishes with a homestay with a local family.
• Week 4: Workshop on data analysis techniques. Field lectures on rainforest microclimates and impacts of forest fragmentation. Visit to Skybury Plantation to learn about sustainable coffee and papaya farming.
• Week 5: Daintree National Park expedition: field lectures, a stop at Jindalba Boardwalk, and a crocodile cruise down the Daintree River. Trip to Cape Tribulation and then west to the Australia Outback for field lectures. Free weekend in Cairns.
• Week 6: Learn about climate change in the Wet Tropics. Two-night stay at a research station on Orpheus Island on the Great Barrier Reef: explore marine ecosystems firsthand through snorkeling and hiking. Field lectures on fish morphology and behavior, coral health, coastal marine habitats, and the impacts of marine debris.
• Week 7: Field lectures on tropical savanna and secondary rainforest ecosystems, rainforest restoration principles, and property rights in environmental conservation. Mid-semester break begins.
• Week 8: Mid-semester break ends. Discuss responses to climate change. Directed Research (DR) projects begin. Visit to Yungaburra markets, field lecture on reversing forest fragmentation, and tree planting project.
• Week 9: Environmental policy debate and lectures on management of introduced species, environmental triage and prioritization, and effective rainforest restoration methods. Preliminary data collection for DR project begins. Study for final exams.
• Week 10: Final exams for Rainforest Ecology, Natural Resource Management, and Environmental Policy and Socioeconomic Values. DR data collection continues. Free weekend in Cairns.
• Week 11: Final week of data collection in the field for DR project. Local tree planting event.
• Week 12: Data analysis: organize, analyze, and write up your results in a scientific paper.
• Week 13: Final papers due. Create a DR presentation and poster based on your research findings. Present to students, staff, and community members.
• Week 14: Re-entry exercises and cabin cleanup. Farewell “magical mystery tour” of the area. Head home.

SFS 3021 Environmental Sustainability and Socio-economic Values (4 Credits)

This course explores the contemporary environmental and sustainability issues and also touches broadly on the historical, social-cultural, economic and political factors that determine the use of natural resources, with particular emphasis on, but not limited to, the Wet Tropics of Australia. Topics to be covered in this course include; environmentalism, sustainable food production and livelihoods, the impact of human activities on terrestrial and marine biomes, conservation conflicts, resource governance and so on. In addition, students will be introduced to social science research methods, while a visit to a local Aboriginal community will help them gain a better understanding of the first Australian’s enviro-cultural heritage values.

Throughout the course students will be introduced to, and are expected to gain hands-on experience on social research techniques.

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SFS 3691 Tropical Biome Ecology & Climate Change

In this course, you will obtain a broad appreciation of the diversity and dynamics of tropical terrestrial & marine biomes. You will be introduced to the current and past distributions of tropical rainforests, dry forest, savannas and coastal biomes, their biodiversity, and their relationships with the abiotic environment, human use, present threats, and restoration practices. This course aims to bring together an understanding of the underlying ecological processes that affect different biomes with the role of human society in shaping the present and future rainforests of the Wet Tropics & the coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. The course will take the rainforest Australian Wet Tropics & the coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as case studies to investigate this field, yet many of the skills you learn here can be transferred to other systems. Topics covered will include: biophysical determinants vegetation and coral reef distribution; past, present, and future threats to Wet Tropics rainforests & GBR; and the theory and practice of rainforest and coral restoration.

The course also has a practical component. You will be taught field techniques for carrying out field research, data analysis, and communication of results.

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SFS 3701 Wildlife & Conservation Biology (4 Credits)

This course identifies threats to wildlife populations, how to obtain data on the impact of these threats on wildlife populations and how to select and apply appropriate conservation methods to mitigate these threats. We will look at these aspects in general and then demonstrate them in case studies of species in the Wet Tropics. To formulate a background understanding of habitats of the Wet Tropic’s wildlife, we will explore the origin of the main landscape formations of this part of Australia by looking at geological and biogeographical factors that shaped the landscape and its biota. You will be introduced to Australia’s fauna and the unique species that inhabit the diverse habitats of the Wet Tropics. We then will deal with some basic ecological concepts of biodiversity and why so many species can co-exist in one place.

The course is a mixture of class lectures, field lectures, field laboratory courses, workshops, field trips, and readings to complement the material presented in the lectures. A major emphasis is placed on field skills, the collection, management and analyses of data, and skills of writing a scientific paper.

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SFS 4910 Directed Research - Australia (4 credits)

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.

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