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Study Abroad Since 1980

About The School
for Field Studies

SFS is a nonprofit that has run environmental study abroad programs since 1980. Students live at our field research centers and work on the problems their host communities face.

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In the Field

The World Is Alive. Step Into Its Story.

Who We Are

A Nonprofit Environmental Study Abroad Organization

The School for Field Studies (SFS) is a nonprofit environmental study abroad organization. We operate twelve permanent field research centers, and every program we offer is based at one of them.

Students move in for a semester or a summer. They take courses from faculty who often live at the center, and they do field research on questions that matter to the people nearby.

SFS was founded in 1980, and more than 21,500 alumni have studied abroad with us since. In 2025, 693 students from 156 colleges and universities enrolled.

Seen from behind, a fisherman in a gray cap lifts a fine mesh net over a calm, silty river with green banks.
Why We Do It

Environmental Problems Get Solved Where They Happen

That idea is where SFS started, and it still explains how we work. We think students understand a problem best by living beside it, and communities get more useful research when the researchers stay.

The research is meant to be used. In the Turks and Caicos Islands, the government sets queen conch harvest policy with help from assessments our students run. SFS authors have published 502 scholarly papers and chapters since 1984, and students co-authored 77 of them.

Students learn field methods such as species identification, camera trapping, GIS mapping, and community interviews. More than 90% report that they gained practical, real-world skills. Our alumni work as researchers, rangers, teachers, and lawyers.

Our Research Our Alumni

Our Vision

A world where healthy ecosystems and thriving communities sustain one another.

That goal rests on two outcomes: students who leave environmentally literate and equipped to contribute to environmental solutions, and locally grounded research that informs conservation decisions and supports sustainable livelihoods.

What We Do

Semester and Summer Study Abroad Programs

SFS has 29 program offerings: 12 semester programs, each run in both fall and spring, and 17 summer programs. Each one is an academic term spent at one center.

Classes and fieldwork share a five- or six-day week, and the work is specific to the place. Programs cover subjects such as wildlife management, marine conservation, climate change, rainforest studies, and sustainable food systems.

In Kenya, students identify elephants by matching ear notches against a photo catalog that grows with every cohort. In Italy, they count pollinators in vineyards to test whether a switch to organic farming is changing anything.

Every semester program includes Directed Research. Each student takes a project from design to a final written report, working with a faculty advisor throughout. Students completed 166 of these projects in 2025.

All courses carry undergraduate credit, and credit-transfer agreements let students apply SFS coursework toward their home degrees. The University of Minnesota, our School of Record since 2014, issues official transcripts to students who need them.

A smiling student in a blue rain jacket holds a small brown bird with a long, curved bill on her fingertips, with green forest behind her.

Semester Programs

Programs
12
Offered
Fall and spring
Length
15 weeks
Credits
16 or 18

Summer Programs

Programs
17
Offered
Up to two sessions a summer
Length
4 or 6 weeks
Credits
4 or 6
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How We Do It

The SFS Model: Field-Based Learning and Research

Four things hold true at every center and in every program.

Of our faculty, 69% come from the region where they teach.

Read About the SFS Model
Where We Work

Twelve Study Abroad Locations on Six Continents

A center is a permanent field station in one community, with a research focus drawn from the ecosystem around it. Kenya has hosted students since 1985. Our two newest centers, Croatia and Italy, opened in 2024.

  • Africa

    • KenyaEndangered Species ConservationKimana, Rift Valley
    • TanzaniaWildlife ManagementRhotia, Ngorongoro Highlands

  • Asia

    • BhutanClimate FuturesParo Valley
    • CambodiaFreshwater EcosystemsSiem Reap

  • Australia

    • AustraliaRainforest StudiesAtherton Tablelands, Queensland

  • Europe

    • CroatiaMarine MegafaunaLošinj Island, Adriatic Sea
    • ItalySustainable Food SystemsGreve in Chianti, Tuscany

  • North America

  • South America

    • ChileClimate StudiesPuerto Natales, Patagonia
    • PeruAmazon StudiesTarapoto, Upper Amazon
Explore Our Centers
People and Governance

SFS Leadership and Governance

SFS is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. An external Board of Trustees governs us, and several trustees are SFS alumni.

Cover of the 1981 SFS catalog, titled The School for Field Studies 1981 Expeditions, with five color photographs of students in the field.
The 1981 SFS catalog
Where It Started

SFS History: Nine Expeditions in 1981

SFS incorporated in the fall of 1980. The next summer we sent 75 students into the field on nine expeditions. Some counted wildlife in Kenya. Others dove the reefs off Little Cayman.

We created our first semester programs in 1984 and ran the first two in early 1985. We established a permanent campus in Kenya that same year. Our History page tells the rest, era by era.

Read Our History
Next Steps

Find a Study Abroad Program That Fits

Browse all 29 program offerings, or tell us a bit about yourself and we’ll send you your next steps.

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