OVST W496 Global Environmental Issues/Language Learning Field Experience-2 credits

• COST: $4,800.00 (this is an approximation subject to changes depending on the airfare fluctuation)
  
  
• DATES: July 22 - August 4, 2012 (might be moved one week forward depending on tickets availability)
  
  
• APPLICATION DEADLINE: Review of applications will begin on April 13, 2012 (Rolling admissions after April 13)
  
  

• GPA 3.0 or permission of the instructor.
  Please note that the submission of official transcripts is not required. Student transcripts will, however, be reviewed via OneStart.
  
  
• On-line application.
  
  
• SPEA-E400/E555/V450/V550/REEI-R 300/500 Global Environmental Problems and Solutions course.
  
  
• Russian language course work - SLAV-S 498/540 Specialized Russian: Environmental Issues I course or SLAV-S 498/540 Specialized Russian: Environmental Issues II.
  
  
• Finalists will be interviewed before being accepted into the Global Environmental Issues/Language Learning Field Experience study-abroad course.
  
  
• Valid PASSPORT for traveling abroad.
  
  
• Non-refundable deposit of $500.00 (upon acceptance in the Global Environmental Issues/Language Learning Field Experience study-abroad course).
  
  

This course is for undergraduate or graduate students. Some undergraduate science - chemistry, physics, or ecology - is desirable but not required.

This course will satisfy requirements in the BSES program (SPEA and COAS), BSPA-Environmental Management (SPEA), MSES (SPEA), MPA (SPEA), and the REEI programs.

This two-week course will take place in and around Tyumen, Russia, a center for oil exploration and development in southwestern Siberia. The natural areas of the region comprise steppe and forest habitats. During our two weeks at the end of the Summer II semester, we will meet our partner-class from the preceding course Global Environmental Problems and Solutions to complete work on the student projects from that course. We will participate in limnological research at Lake Kuchak, near Tyumen, visit a forest management area and aquaculture facility near Tobolsk, and visit oil-field remediation sites at Khanty-Mansiysk (400+ miles to the north of Tyumen). Our drive north to Khanty-Mansiysk will take us through wetlands and along rivers, giving us a close-up view of the ecosystems of the region and our return, by air, will show us the landscape mosaic formed by these ecosystems as well as the various human impacts. During our site visits, researchers, managers, and administrators will discuss the activities underway at each site. We will learn about the history and culture of the region through explorations of Tyumen with our hosts and visits to cultural sites along our route. The pre-trip training will provide extensive background information on activities and sites, so that students are prepared to make the most of this opportunity.