At IES Abroad, we don’t just talk the talk, we also walk the walk! In honor of Earth Day, we wanted to share with you the courses, field trips, volunteer opportunities, and more that IES Abroad students are partaking in around the world to demonstrate their support and appreciation of the earth.
Programs/Courses
Field Trips/Field Studies
Galápagos Islands Volunteer Opportunities
Programs/Courses
Auckland Direct Enrollment - University of Auckland in New Zealand offers several environmental and sustainability issues courses available for IES Abroad students to enroll in, including Environmental Law and Environmental Science.
Christchurch Direct Enrollment - University of Canterbury in New Zealand offers several environmental and sustainability issues courses available for IES Abroad students to enroll in, such as Ecology, Forestry, and Soil Science.
Freiburg Environmental Studies & Sustainability - This English-taught program allows students to explore topics in Environmental Studies, Forest Ecology, and Sustainability while living in Freiburg, located near the beautiful Black Forest and Rhine River Valley.
Galápagos Islands Direct Enrollment - Galápagos Academic Institute for the Arts and Sciences (GAIAS) offers several environmental and sustainability issues courses available for IES Abroad students to enroll in three different tracks: People, Politics & the Environment; Marine Ecology and Evolution; and Ecology & Conservation.
Kunming Regional Development in China & Southeast Asia - This program offers students courses such as Conservation Biology, Environmental Studies, and Transboundary Resource Dilemmas in The Greater Mekong Subregion, which includes a 16-day course-related excursion as part of the curriculum.
Kunming Summer Environmental Studies - This program includes a core course, Development & Environmental Protection in the Greater Mekong Subregion, which links course-related excursions with research, a core component of the program in which students spend nearly three weeks on an environmental project in Yunnan, Thailand, and Laos. Course topics focus on the analysis of trans-boundary issues such as downstream water resources management, study of invasive species, and the impact of infrastructure development on local ecologies.
Milan Italy Today - In addition to offering the course Social Innovation: Strategies of Social and Environmental Sustainability, Milan is home to Expo Milano 2015 this year, which is centered on "Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life".
Paris Business & International Affairs - In Fall 2015, this Parisian program offers the topics course, Green Growth, Sustainability, and the New Economy to coordinate with the 21st climate conference COP21.
Quito and Galápagos Islands Summer Environmental Studies - Based in Quito and featuring three weeks of course-related excursions in the Galápagos Islands, this program allows students to study issues of environmental management and preservation, while exploring Ecuador’s rich ecology.
Vienna European Society & Culture - Offers students the chance to take the course, In Search of Sustainability: Energy, the Environment, and Society in Central Europe.
Field Trips/Field Studies
Kunming Regional Development in China & Southeast Asia - This program offers students the course Transboundary Resource Dilemmas in The Greater Mekong Subregion, which includes a 16-day field trip as part of the curriculum.
Kunming Summer Environmental Studies - This program includes a 14-day, course-related excursion to Yunnan, Thailand, and Laos where students meet with experts from environmental organizations like the UN Environmental Programme, government and business officials from Laos, China, and the U.S. Mission in Vientiane, along with key NGOs like the Mekong River Foundation. Finally in Luang Prabang, students stay in local guesthouses and spend time along the Mekong River to better understand the life and social needs of local people.
Siena Presence of the Past - This program provides students the opportunity to experience the slow food movement, with a field trip to San Gimignano, a small medieval town in Tuscany.
Galápagos Islands Volunteer Opportunities
Our Galápagos Islands programs offer a number of volunteer opportunities related to the environment for students to partake in, such as:
- Environmental Management Municipality: Students support efforts at trash/recycling centers, coordinate and execute community outreach programs and materials, or help with English classes for staff.
- Hacienda Tranquila: Students help with maintenance around the Hacienda, remove invasive species in the area, coordinate volunteers participating in programs that restore endemic plants, teach English to local underserved children, and engage the local farmers in organic agricultural practices.
- Charles Darwin Foundation: Students support environmental conservation efforts in the archipelago through various projects, such as organizing volunteer data, developing an email marketing database, and creating an English/Spanish information packet for incoming volunteers.
- USFQ-GAIAS Eco Club: Students participate in beach clean-ups, tending native gardens, working on anti-plastic bag campaigns, promoting alternative transportation, and working with local school children involved in clubs closely tied to environmental education.
- Doctor Green Veterinarian: Students assist in the intake and care of patients (pets, farm animals, and occasional marine and terrestrial animals found by the National Park Service for emergency care), maintain social media, or do general office work.
Happy Earth Week! More information on our environmentally-focused programs and courses can be found at www.IESabroad.org/study-abroad/programs/by-discipline.
