School for Field Studies (SFS), Tropical Rainforest Management in Austrailia 

 

  • The focus of the SFS program in North Queenland is on the restoration and management of degraded forest, pasturelands, and watersheds. Australia, realizing that its rainforests shelter unique species found nowhere else on earth, has moved faster than most countries in confronting the threats to their destruction, and since 1988, most of the remaining forests were declared protected under World Heritage designation.
  • Operating out of the SFS Center, surrounded by protected forests, students live and study on a fully equipped research compound. A week of orientation and preliminary lectures is followed by a series of integrated case studies focusing on local environmental problems and resource conflicts.
  • Students are registered in four courses: Rainforest Ecology; Principles of Forest Management; Environmental Policy and Socioeconomic Values; and Directed Research. Days are spent in a combination of lectures, field exercises and research in the surrounding natural rainforest, areas under reforestation, and nearby private lands under cultivation. Faculty lectures are supplemented by guest lectures from local experts, government officials, and representatives of area communities. Every student completes and presents a directed research project utilizing on techniques, statistical methods, and scientific writing skills learned at the SFS Center.
  • In addition to interviewing farmers, resource managers, and aboriginal clan members to gain a variety of perspectives on the issues surrounding preservation and restoration of the forests, students are integrated into local life through volunteer activities, including working with environmental groups and giving presentations in local schools.
  • Accommodation is provided in shared cabins.
  • Eligibility: At least one course in environmental studies or biology recommended. Commitment to understanding environmental issues. Willingness to live and work in groups.

 

School for Field Studies | 978-741-3544 | Fax: 978-741-3551 | admissions@fieldstudies.org