Center for Rainforest Studies

Rainforest to Reef

Australia
Semester
14 Weeks
16 Credits
Fall 2025
Sep 1 - Dec 5
Closed
Spring 2026
Jan 26 - Apr 30
Open
Program Costs
  • Tuition$23,850
  • Room & Board$5,750
  • Total$29,600
Application Deadlines
Fall 2025
May 1, 2025
Spring 2026
November 1, 2025
Semester Program

Rainforest to Reef

Tropical North Queensland,
Australia

In northern Queensland, the Wet Tropics rainforest presses in with towering figs, curtain-like vines, and a chorus of unseen birds. Students spend much of their semester here, tracking elusive marsupials, measuring bird populations by call, and conducting nocturnal spotlighting to reveal hidden biodiversity. At night, surveys often reveal frog calls from hidden pools, while sightings of cassowaries underscore both the vulnerability and persistence of rainforest species. Students also step briefly into the outback and reef, glimpsing how fragmented ecosystems still link together. Every survey, spotlight, and data sheet contributes to a story still unfolding in one of the world’s most vibrant yet pressured ecosystems.

  • Survey Atherton Tablelands forest-to-savanna transitions with GPS plots and plant ID, linking soil chemistry, fire history, and habitat change.
  • Assess coral cover and reef fish populations on snorkel surveys, then prepare site-specific environmental impact assessments with actionable recommendations.
  • Restore degraded riparian corridors alongside local partners, collect spatial data for long-term revegetation databases, and monitor wildlife recolonization patterns.
  • Learn from and integrate Traditional Owner knowledge on land, agriculture, and water into cross-cultural conservation strategies that navigate ongoing policy tensions.
  • Conduct Directed Research: frame a stakeholder-driven question, collect and analyze field data with faculty guidance, and present actionable findings to local partners.

Academics

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.

Major academic themes include:

  • Rainforest ecology and conservation
  • Climate change
  • Habitat restoration ecology
  • Threatened species conservation
  • Aboriginal ecotourism
  • Development and settlement in the rainforest
  • Rainforest fragmentation and recovery
  • Forest ecotones
  • Animal behavior

Courses

On the Tropical Rainforest Studies 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 the
to view a description and download the syllabus.
SFS 4910
Directed Research – Australia
4 credits
SFS 3691
Tropical Biome Ecology & Climate Change
4 credits
SFS 3701
Wildlife & Conservation Biology
4 credits
SFS 3021
Environmental Sustainability and Socio-economic Values
4 credits

Core Skills

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. 

Field Sites

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. 


Other Australia Programs

Semester

Rainforest to Reef

14 Weeks
16 Credits
Fall 2025
Sep 1 - Dec 5
Closed
Spring 2026
Jan 26 - Apr 30
Open

More Information

Program Costs
  • Tuition$23,850
  • Room & Board$5,750
  • Total$29,600
Summer Session 1

Marsupials of Australia

4 Weeks
4 Credits
Summer 2026
Jun 1 - Jun 30
Open

More Information

Program Costs
  • Tuition$5,750
  • Room & Board$2,580
  • Total$8,330
Summer Session 2

Farming for the Future – Australia & Bali

4 Weeks
4 Credits
Summer 2026
Jul 6 - Aug 4
Open

More Information

Program Costs
  • Tuition$5,750
  • Room & Board$2,580
  • Total$8,330

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