Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

  Ecuador

• Quito: 
Quito

Term: Fall, Spring 
Dates: September-December/February-May

Description: Home to over 1,500 species of birds and 10 percent of the world's known vascular plant species, Ecuador offers incredible opportunities to explore the natural history of the tropics and immerse yourself in the complexities of human adaptations to different environments. From the Amazonian rain forest to the highland Pyramo, you interact with indigenous cultures and local communities that are grappling with conservation strategies within a context of heightened political and social pressures.

Your program base is historic Quito, a World Cultural Heritage site perched spectacularly at the foot of the Pichincha Volcano. From here, educational excursions take you to the high sierras of the Andes, the cloud forest, the rugged snow-line Pyramo, and the vast rain forest of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Your program culminates in a weeklong shipboard visit, led by an experienced naturalist, to the extraordinary Galypagos Islands ' home to plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth, and perhaps the world's most renowned environmental destination.

Highlights: Eight weeks homestay in Quito. One week in the Intag Cloud Forest. Educational excursions to the Galapagos Islands, the Paramo and Highland Andes, and the Amazon rain forest.

Cost in US$: contact sponsor

Experience Required: yes

Previous college-level coursework or significant preparation in environmental studies, ecology, biology, or related fields. Four recent semesters of college-level Spanish or equivalent and the ability to follow courseweork in Spanish, as assessed by SIT.

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Physical Exam/Health Records
• Transcript
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Alumni Network
• Job and Internship Network

SIT Study Abroad's Mission Statement: SIT Study Abroad is the accredited higher education institution of World Learning, a private, nonprofit international organization promoting international and intercultural understanding, social justice, and economic development through education, training, and field projects around the globe. SIT prepares students to be interculturally effective leaders, professionals, and citizens through SIT Study Abroad, undergraduate, field-based academic programs operating in more than 50 countries worldwide, and thorough short-term professional training and graduate degrees in language teaching, conflict transformation, international education, social justice in intercultural relations, management, and sustainable development.

Year Founded: 1932