SIT Study Abroad Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation
Explore tropical ecosystems, conduct biological fieldwork, and study conservation in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.
WHY STUDY CONSERVATION IN ECUADOR?
You will live like a biologist as you explore the Amazon basin, the Andes, cloud forests, Pacific Ocean coastline, and the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador—unique climatic niches that harbor ecological treasures and a plethora of flora and fauna. Within these diverse and vulnerable settings, you will conduct biological fieldwork, studying plants and insects, taking soil samples, conducting species counts, using mist nets, and observing birds. You will also have the opportunity to live with two different homestay families: in capital city of Quito and the rural cloud forest.
See for yourself the importance of Ecuador’s biota as you learn from researchers during excursions to the Andean páramo highlands, the Amazon Region, and the Cloud Forest of North-Western Ecuador. You will also spend a week exploring the Galápagos Islands by land and sea.
Hone the Spanish language skills you will need to talk about environmental and conservation issues, conduct field research, and engage in institutional and community discussions related to ecology and biology.
Please visit the SIT Study Abroad website for details on the program highlights and details of coursework, educational excursions, and housing.
MONEY MATTERS
SIT is an all-inclusively priced study abroad program – including academics costs, excursions, accommodations and meals, airport transfers, and health insurance. Be sure to discuss how study abroad costs are handled at your school with your study abroad advisor and read the website for more specific information.
SCHOLARSHIPS
SIT has awarded an average of over $1.3 million in scholarships and grants to SIT Study Abroad students in the past three years. All scholarships and grants are need-based. Awards generally range from $500 to $5,000.
CONTACT SIT STUDY ABROAD
· Visit our website: studyabroad.sit.edu
· Request more information or email us: studyabroad@sit.edu
· Call an admissions counselor: 888-272-7881
· Contact a former student.
· Apply to SIT
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 Comparative Ecology and Conservation
Current Program Information Home to more than 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 tropical ecosystems and immerse yourself in the complexities of human adaptations to different environments. From the Amazonian rainforest to the highland páramo, you interact with community members and local stakeholders who are grappling with conservation strategies within the context of heightened political, economic, and social pressures.
Your program base is historic Quito, a UNESCO World 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 epiphyte-rich cloud forest, the rugged snow-line páramo and the vast rainforest of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Your program includes a weeklong shipboard visit, led by an experienced naturalist, to the extraordinary Galápagos Islands - home to plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth and one of the world's most renowned environmental destinations. |
