Study, intern, and immerse yourself in biodiversity conservation with field specialists throughout Brazil, while exploring developments in environmental problem-solving.

Program Description

Established in 1989, Antioch’s Brazilian Ecosystems Program is the only study abroad program that enables students to engage in field studies across a variety of biomes in Brazil. Over the course of three months, students travel throughout Brazil to study ecology, field methodology, and natural resource management. From lectures on restoration ecology to meetings with rural farmers and rubber tappers, and seminars with policy specialists, this program offers a complete overview of complex issues involved in conservation and natural resource management. During the final four weeks of the program, students are placed on an internship according to their academic interest ranging from global carbon monitoring to entomology. Program Director, Dr. Suzanne Kolb, leads the program and is assisted by local professors, research scientists, graduate students, and activists, who provide expertise on current environmental issues facing each region.

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The program is affiliated with two Brazilian universities: the Universidade Federal do Paraná, and the Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso. Support is also provided by the Institute of Conservation Biology of the Universidade Estadual Paulista, the Salto Morato Natural Reserve, the National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA), Itaipú Binacional, and many local and national non-governmental organizations. Local professors, research scientists, graduate students, and activists provide expertise on the issues of the region.

Since the program began, students from a wide variety of schools have participated. A sampling of these institutions include: Bowdoin College, Bucknell University, Carleton College, Colby College, The College of Wooster, Colorado College, Goddard College, Goucher College, Guilford College, Harvard University, Indiana University, Macalester College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Oberlin College, Smith College, Stanford University, Swarthmore College, The University of California - Berkeley, The University of Chicago, The University of Puget Sound, The University of Wisconsin, The University of Vermont, The University of Virginia, Vassar, and Valparaiso University.