Academic Program

This international environmental policy and planning program will explore relevant aspects of environmental policy and practice through interaction with environmental professionals at selected academic institutions and with practitioners in the field.

Specific study plans include:

• An environmental science orientation with visits to Victoria University, Wellington and the University of Canterbury and the U.S. Antarctica Program in Christchurch
• Visits to various national parks and nature preserves in Australia and New Zealand to observe ecosystems and management practices including a day trip to the Banks peninsula and Akaroa with a sea cruise to observe the world's smallest and rarest dolphins - the Hector Dolphin, the White Flippered Blue Penguin, the smallest penguin in the world, different cormorant species and the chance to sight the endangered yellow-eyed penguin
• A three-hour ferry journey across Cook Straight from Wellington to Picton and the magnificent Charlotte Sound with travel to the coastal resources of Abel Tasman National Park
• Review fish farming such as salmon farms where thousands of salmon are reared from fingerlings to adult fish
• An overview of New Zealand's innovative Natural Resource Management Policy Act during a stay on the beautiful South Island of New Zealand
• A review of the diverse ecosystems from the coastal plains to the Southern Alps (Sea level to almost 4000 meters) when we make our transition across the South Island
• An exploration of two unique national parks both designated as World Heritage sites - the Westland and Mount Cook National Park and the Fjordland National Park. Both parks offer landscapes shaped by successive glaciations into fjords, rocky coasts, towering cliffs, lakes and waterfalls, a climax vegetation of southern beech and podocarps (some of which are over 800 years old), the kea - the only alpine parrot in the world - and the rare and endangered takahe, a large flightless bird. Also included is Milford Sound, a fjord formed by glaciers thousands of years ago and the world's fifth largest national park. It contains massive mountains that rise straight out of the sea to higher than 1,500 meters and the area receives 8 meters of rainfall a year
• A review of New Zealand's land use controls and planning procedures, water management strategies, including its agricultural management practices and impacts
• A review of the New Zealand-based, U.S.-sponsored component of the Antarctica Environmental Science Research Program. Antarctica, a continent with the highest, driest, coldest, windiest, and least populated place on earth, with an ice sheet that averages 2,160 meters and covers all but 2.4% of Antarctica's 14 million square kilometers. This ice sheet represents about 70% of the world's fresh water. Due to a variety of unique conditions, Antarctica provides excellent conditions for scientific research including global warming, ozone changes, earth sciences, glaciology, astronomy, UV radiation, oceanic circulation, marine ecosystems, and meteorite studies

Students will be required to enroll in a minimum of four (4) credits from the following courses:

• RD 480/891 Environmental Studies Abroad 1-6 cr.
• ANR 475 International Studies in Agriculture and Natural Resources 1-4 cr.
• ANR 491 Selected Topics 1-3 cr.
• AEE 475 International Studies in ANR Education and Communication Systems 1-6 cr.
• AEE 875 International Studies in Agriculture Extension and Education 1-64 cr.
• ISS 310 People and Environment 4 cr.
• SSC 496 Field Studies Abroad 3-6 cr.
• ESA 480/891 Environmental Studies Abroad 1-6 cr.

Although the academic program is intense and requires careful planning of available time, it is balanced with visits to major museums and cultural and historical sites. Multi-day stays in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch are included with site visits to most important natural features of New Zealand. Students will be asked to keep a daily log of their program experiences and write a comparative research paper on the relevant program topics of their choice, mutually agreed upon with the instructor.

For additional information on the academic program:

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