Study Abroad

Academics

Courses

Our courses are designed to give students a holistic view of conservation, incorporating foundational theory, experiential field learning, social considerations, and practical experience. This comprehensive approach ensures that students gain a well-rounded understanding of conservation practices and principles. All courses are 3-credits each.

Courses offered on all of our programs

Applied Conservation Biology - ENVI 410RR

Conservation biology focuses on the application of scientific principles to inform and guide the protection and management of Earth’s biological diversity. This course covers major topics that fall under applied conservation biology, with an emphasis on large-scale conservation and local case studies. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this course, topics are drawn from fields including population ecology, landscape ecology, community ecology and genetics, as well as social, economic, and community aspects of conservation.

Introduction to Natural History - ENVI 435RR

Natural history is the study of plants and animals in their natural environments and is the basis of all scientific learning. The concepts of conservation biology and ecology are enhanced by a solid foundation in natural history. No great technical knowledge is necessary to comprehend the practice of natural history, but it is necessary to practice these skills in the field. Students will become familiar with the flora and fauna native to their program area, and will learn standardized methods to record observations, patterns, and experiences in the field. Students will also read and discuss a variety of natural history-related essays.

Biological Field Methods - ENVI 430RR

Conservation biology and ecology are based on a solid foundation of skills related to field methodology and the observation, recording, and reporting of plants and wildlife in their natural environments. This course provides an introduction to a variety of field methodologies and natural history observation techniques, and will provide students with the information and tools needed to understand the scientific process: formulating a research question, collecting data, compiling and analyzing data, writing a scientific paper, and presenting research results. This course gives students practical research skills and field experience that cannot be gained in a classroom setting.

Semester-Long Program Courses

Humans and the Environment - ENVI 425RR

Understanding a culture’s relationship to the natural world provides insight into successful conservation strategies. Successful approaches to community-based conservation often incorporate local knowledge and necessitate perceiving humans as part of the environment. Drawing on disciplines such as anthropology and geography, and this reading and discussion-based course covers topics such as Human Wildlife Conflict, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, impacts of protected areas on local people, ecosystem services, and the methods and problems associated with applying research to conservation and development efforts.

Applied Ecology - ENVI 415RR

Applied ecology provides the conceptual basis for the practice of science-based ecological research, conservation, monitoring, and restoration. In this course, we will explore concepts in ecology that are essential for understanding how historical land-use shapes ecosystems today, and how we can expect systems to respond in the future to current disturbances and proposed management actions. Ecological concepts covered within this course include trophic cascades, speciation, predation and herbivory, habitat use and preference, aquatic and terrestrial food webs, disturbance regimes, and climate change. The course also focuses on local applications for ecological restoration, such as removing or modifying a source of disturbance (e.g., a dam), removing invasive non-native species, reintroducing native species, and removing barriers to wildlife movement. By providing locally relevant case studies and scientific articles, students will learn to apply ecological concepts to local conservation and restoration projects, assignments, and fieldwork.

Community-Based Natural Resource Management - ENVI 420RR

(Note: This course is offered in lieu of the Applied Ecology course on the Botswana program.)

Much of southern Africa has adopted Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) approaches to conservation, led and implemented by community organizations, traditional leaders, conservation NGO’s, private-sector investors, and government authorities. The goal of CBNRM is for local communities and private landowners to benefit directly from both consumptive and non-consumptive natural resource utilization strategies. This course covers major approaches to CBNRM focusing on evaluating the success of local strategies.

For a copy of the syllabi, please contact
studyabroad@roundriver.org.

Accreditation

Our accrediting institution is Westminster University, which oversees course development and evaluation, provides faculty review, and issues transcripts for academic credit. Each Round River program participant is registered at Westminster University for the duration of the program (with a few specific exceptions). Grades are recorded at Westminster University, and official transcripts are issued which meet accepted standards for transferability. Students can then transfer these credits to their home institution.

The number of course credits earned per program is as follows:

Semester (12 weeks): 15 semester credits
Summer (6 weeks): 9 semester credits

Grading Policies

Grades will be determined in accordance with Westminster University grading policies. The cutoff percentages for grading purposes are as follows:

A = 94; A- = 90; B+ = 87; B = 83 ; B- = 80; C+ = 77;
C = 73; C- = 70, D+ = 67; D=63; D- = 60; F <60

Transcripts

Alumni can find more information about ordering transcripts from Westminster University here.

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