Fire, ice, and the future of Patagonia. Between burned forests and shrinking glaciers, students measure how climate change is remaking the region.
The SFS Center for Climate Studies sits in Puerto Natales, gateway to Torres del Paine National Park, at the intersection of earth systems science and ecology in a rapidly changing Patagonian landscape. The terrain runs from fjords and steppe to extinct volcanic fields, and more than half the surrounding territory falls under formal protection. Glaciers groan and calve into turquoise lakes while guanacos graze beneath granite towers that jut three thousand feet into Patagonian sky.
Students camp in Torres del Paine for multi-day expeditions, trekking to Grey Glacier to document retreat, observing king penguins in Tierra del Fuego to record colony size and behavior, and sampling aquatic macroinvertebrates in glacial rivers. They walk the extinct volcanic field at Parque Nacional Pali Aike, monitor peatlands by drone at Río Rubens, and celebrate We-Tripantu (the winter solstice) with local Mapuche-Williche communities.
Pali Aike National Park sits on a volcanic field at the edge of the Patagonian steppe. Students mapped its landforms and reconstructed the geological history that built them.
The brine shrimp of Magallanes are endemic, barely studied, and the reason the region's flamingos are pink. Students profiled them at two hypersaline lagoons and drafted a conservation plan.
Invasive salmonids are now established in Magellanic rivers. Students sampled the streambed along a gradient of salmonid abundance to see what the fish do to the invertebrate life below.
Tourism, salmon farming, and environmental governance pull Última Esperanza in different directions. Students gathered the accounts of the people living inside that change.
The center is based in Puerto Natales, a small town on the shores of Última Esperanza Sound. Students live in a facility within walking distance of the waterfront and conduct fieldwork across Patagonia, from glacial valleys and old-growth forests to windswept grasslands and coastal fjords.
SFS students become part of the Puerto Natales community, sharing mate with local gauchos, volunteering with park rangers in Torres del Paine, visiting working estancias, and collaborating with Chilean researchers on fire management and conservation planning. Each semester closes with the Community Research Open House, where every student presents a research poster to local stakeholders and park management.
Enrolling now for Spring 2027, Summer 2027, and Fall 2027.
