Field Studies

The Environmental Field School is a program in which students are placed in national park units for about seven weeks of work. Most of these positions are internships that have students working on resource management and/or research projects during the summer. The program combines field work and academic work, students enrolled in two 300-level units.

The mission of the program is to provide students with a field perspective

and experience that will complement and advance their knowledge of environmental issues.

The Program offers excellent opportunities for students in the areas of

natural resources, cultural resources, and environmental policy, With most of the positions involving critical issues of public policy. In recent years students have worked on wetlands restoration problems, prairie ecology, brown bear behavior, salmon research, parks sustainability policy, and Native Allotment issues in parks.

The coming summer should be a very interesting time to both work upon and examine the interplay of public policy and efforts to protect biodiversity and cultural heritage in our park system.

January 16, 2012