Study Abroad Programs in Environmental Studies

KU Environmental Studies officially sponsors two summer study abroad programs: one based in Freiburg, Germany (deemed one of the "greenest" cities in Europe) and one based in the Karnataka region of India. In addition to these, there are several other study abroad programs with an emphasis on environmental issues. Check the Study Abroad program listings for details.

Interested in studying abroad, but not sure how to fund it? Environmental Studies funds efforts of majors to attend these and other environmentally related study abroad programs. In addition, there may be other scholarships available to fund classes and research in other areas of the world. Check our Scholarship page for updates.

Freiburg, Germany

Students enjoying the view while hiking, Freiburg trip 2009

The Freiburg Study Abroad program is offered once every other summer, and it will be offered this Summer 2012. Students reside in Freiburg, Germany over the course of four weeks, experiencing examples of sustainable policies first hand, and visiting sites such as Solarfabrik, a zero-emission solar energy factory, and the European Parliament. As part of the curriculum, students will enroll in two courses:

• EVRN 550 - Environmental Economics: Research Methods and Analytical Approaches (3 credit hours). This course provides an overview economic research and analysis methods as applied to environmental issues.
• EVRN 420 / 720 - Environmental Sustainability in Europe's Green Communities (3 cr). This course investigates how European cities, particularly Freiburg, are striving to implement principles of sustainability. Students analyze different aspects of “green” cities, making comparisons to U.S. cities, as appropriate. Undergraduates will enroll in EVRN 420 and graduate students will enroll in EVRN 720.

For more information about this program, view its Study Abroad profile.

Karnataka, India

The inaugural India Study Abroad program in Environmental Studies will NOT be offered in summer 2012. It is usually offered once every other summer (alternating with the Freiburg program). Students travel throughout the state of Karnataka over the course of six weeks, studying ecosystems around the cities of Bangalore, Mysore, and the region of the Western Ghats. As part of the curriculum, students enroll in two courses:

• EVRN 460 - Field Ecology (3 cr).
• EVRN 420 / 720 - Environmental Issues in India (3 cr).

Both courses are intended to help students gain a holistic understanding of environmental issues in India and to develop skills that will enable them to function as effective environmental field scientists, biologists, and natural resource managers while working with environmental data. Specifically students learn how environmental field studies are designed, data collection techniques as well as analyses and interpretation of results. We hope to be able to offer this great opportunity next summer.

Amazonian Peru

This program is intended to provide upper-level undergraduate and graduate students with an intensive introduction to tropical biology and field research, with a focus on insect biodiversity. Insects are the largest group of animals known on earth and they are extremely important as pollinators, recyclers, and in food chains. One can study any biological question using insects. This program will explore the diversity of insects (e.g., How many species are there? Is the species rare, abundant, threatened or extinct?) and the problems involved in identifying them (How do we recognize new species?). Insect science is one those rare fields where even non-professionals can make real contributions to science.

• EVRN 460/720 - Field Ecology (3 cr).

For more information about this program, view its Study Abroad profile.