Australia: Managing Diverse Ecosystems
Immerse yourself in Australia's bountiful natural wonders while also learning about agricultural enterprises in the Down Under. For three weeks, students learn about Australia's wildlife conservation efforts, including those to save the endangered Tasmanian devil, while exploring food industries from vineyards and lavender fields to fisheries and oyster farms.
Winter Break 2024-2025
Student Stories
Bahama: Marine Ecology
Explore tropical marine ecosystems for a week and gain hands-on field experience at the Bimini Biological Field Station in South Bimini, the Bahamas.
January 9-16, 2025
Being in Bahama (Application Deadline 9/27/2024)
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Photo courtesy of Wyatt Albert | Bimini Biological Field Station -
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Photo courtesy of Wyatt Albert | Bimini Biological Field Station -
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Photo courtesy of Wyatt Albert | Bimini Biological Field Station
Student Stories
Puerto Rico: Tropical Ecosystems
Locations: Puerto Rico
Fields of Study: Tropical Ecology
Program Highlights: Students will have the opportunity to experience the rain and dry forests, snorkel on a tropical reef and bioluminescent bay and explore the tropical rivers, underground caves and beaches of Puerto Rico. They will also visit research stations and interact with locals while observing the components of tropical ecosystems on a major island system.
Spring Break 2025
Southern Africa: Wildlife Conservation
Spend a month camping in the South Africa bush learning about the national history of the bushveld. The Makuleke Concession of Kruger National Park represents the diversity of modern conservation issues in Africa ? with enormous numbers of wildlife that conflict with local villages and agriculture. Students in the course will experience phenomenal wildlife and learn about the challenges South Africa faces during this period of rapid change. Previous trips have been to Botswana.
May 23 to June 23, 2025
Student Stories
Botswana: Wilderness in the 21st Century: Okavango Delta
August 3 - 20, 2025
This class will explore the concept of wilderness with a particular focus on how wilderness is impacted by human behavior and social structures (culture, laws, economies of tourism, farming, industry, etc.). We will explore topics related to a specific wilderness area – the Okavango Delta in rural Botswana – as a case study to consider wilderness in the 21st century. In doing so, we will utilize social science-based research approaches and theories to understand the range of ways human interaction with the Delta impacts it as a wilderness area.
- Understand the multiple definitions of wilderness
- Articulate the evolution of ‘wilderness thinking’ through the lens of different cultures
- Critically reflect on complex socio-ecological problems in ‘wilderness’ contexts, globally
- Learn more from your experience through guided critical reflection
- Maximize your experience with assignments designed to help you identify ways to take initiative
- Cultivate the skills most sought by 21st century employers (hint: they're outlined in our learning outcomes)
- Draw connections between your experience and what you're learning in the classroom through intentionally crafted assignments
- Gain practice articulating the value of your experience and end the course with a tangible product (your final project) that showcases what you've learned
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the multiple definitions of wilderness
- Articulate the evolution of ‘wilderness thinking’ through the lens of different cultures
- Critically reflect on complex socio-ecological problems in 'wilderness' contexts, globally
Student Stories
Cedar Point: Right in our "backyard"
The University of Nebraska's Cedar Point Biological Station (CPBS) is a field research facility and experiential classroom. CPBS is located off campus in western Nebraska, near Lake McConaughy and the city of Ogallala. The station sits in the heart of the western high plains near the juncture of tall grass and short grass prairie, on the south edge of the Sandhills and the North Platte River valley. The success of the Cedar Point Experience draws on the wide variety of local habitats with an abundance and diversity of flora and fauna.
Why Should I Enroll in a CPBS Course?
- You'll get to visit the beautiful Nebraska Sandhills!
- You'll have the opportunity to live in rustic cabins by serene Lake Ogallala.
- Class are less lecture-based and more field-based, so you spend most of your days (and sometimes nights!) outside delving into field science!
- Relationships with students, TAs, and professors form fast and strong.
- You get to eat three meals a day with science-minded people from undergraduates to well-known scientists where you can discuss ideas.
- Complete a 4 credit course in 3 weeks or 3 credit course in 2 weeks.
- It's a really amazing experience!
Classes taught at CPBS can include: Ornithology, Biology, Ecology & Evolution, Field Epidemiology, Ecological Issues in the Great Plains, and Literature & the Environment.
Namibia - Southern African: Wildlife Conservation
Discover and learn about the variety of ecosystems found in this southern African country. Visit landmarks like Etosha National Park, where students can see elephants, zebras and other large animals. Along the Namibian coast, students can sightsee as seals and whales swim in and near harbors.
Spring 2026
Student Stories
Faculty Stories
Larkin Powell's Youtube Channel
Visit Larkin Powell's Youtube channel about his trips to Namibia guiding students on study abroad trips.