Panama: Tropical Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Conservation

  Panama

Panama City

Term: Fall, Spring 
Dates: September to December/March to June

Description: The School for International Training's Study Abroad programs offer field-based study in over 57 countries. Students earn 16 semester credits on a 15-week experience designed to encourage a global awareness that enables people to live and act in an interdependent world. Groups of seven to 25 students are led by one or two academic directors. Courses generally include intensive language study, thematic seminar, field studies seminar, and an independent study project. Other program components include in-country orientation, homestay, educational excursions, and program evaluation. The model allows student to experience cultural immersion by integrating into the host community in a variety ways.

With more bird species than all of North America, the premier tropical biology research institute in the world, eight unique indigenous groups, strong African colonial roots, a Caribbean archipelago noted as the Galápagos of the twenty-first century, and a storehouse of endangered cloud forests, Panama is an outstanding site for students to explore tropical conservation and sustainable development. Within this extraordinary cultural and ecological diversity, Panamanian governments, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations struggle to balance development and conservation in the age of globalization.

Local specialists, campesino, and indigenous groups, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, the Institute for Tropical Ecology and Conservation, the University of Panama, and the Earth University of Costa Rica, introduce students to the complexities of environmental conservation through instruction and field excursions to sites of important research on such subjects as biodiversity and global change.

Highlights: Three-week Panama City homestay. The program includes approximately five weeks for field study, including research projects with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Barro Colorado Island; bird identification at an Audubon Society "top 10" birding site; fish and coral reef identification in the Bocas del Toro archipelago;

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: contact sponsor

Experience Required: yes

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

This Program is open to American and Worldwide Participants.

Scholarships are Available.

Application Process Involves:

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

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• 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