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SFS Study Abroad: Himalayan Climate and Sustainability in Bhutan

SFS Study Abroad: Himalayan Climate and Sustainability in Bhutan

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The School for Field Studies (SFS)
5 · 2 reviews
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The School for Field Studies (SFS)

 5 · 2 reviews
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Location
  • Bhutan
Term
Fall, Short Term, Spring, Summer
Subject Areas
Agriculture Animal Science Asian Studies Biology Botany Conservation and Preservation Cultural Studies Earth Sciences East Asian Studies Ecology Environmental Studies Field Studies Geography Humanities Indigenous Cultures Life Sciences Natural Sciences Philosophy Public Policy Religious Studies Social Sciences Statistics Sustainable Development Tourism Wildlife Sciences +15

Program Details

Program Type
Provider
Degree Level
Associates Bachelors
Housing
Dormitory
Language
English

Pricing

Price Details
Program fees include tuition, housing, daily meals, field excursions, entrance fees, cultural activities, advising services, airport transfers, 24/7 mental health and well-being support, official transcript processing and more – check out our website. Need-based scholarships available.
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Airport Transfers Classes Meals Transportation Wifi
What's Included (Extra)

No Application Fee!

What's Not Included
Airfare Travel Insurance Visa
Nov 14, 2025
Nov 24, 2025
Wish List
18 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Have you ever wanted to spend time in the Himalayan mountains, hike through rhododendron forests dotted with brightly colored prayer flags, or observe graceful black-necked cranes and elusive mountain-dwelling takins?

Our programs in Bhutan take place in the country’s mountains, valleys, rivers, forests, protected areas, and cultural sites. Courses and fieldwork focus on key environmental issues faced here such as natural resource and water management, climate change, and sustainable livelihoods. As the country begins to urbanize, and with the looming threat of a rapidly changing climate, Bhutan is at a crossroads. In keeping with the tenets of Gross National Happiness, the people of Bhutan must balance preserving biodiversity with securing their economic futures. SFS works in partnership with the Bhutanese government and the Bhutan Ecological Society to provide much-needed data that informs sustainable conservation and development policies and climate adaptation strategies.

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Program Highlights

  • Trek Chelela ridges, record DBH, canopy cover, and species counts along altitudinal transects to model forest shifts.
  • Hold interviews with monks and community leaders near Tiger’s Nest, exploring ties between Buddhist ritual and conservation ethics, then code emerging themes.
  • Facilitate community dialogues on balancing Bhutan’s carbon-negative policies with pastoral and agricultural livelihoods.
  • Conduct Directed Research: frame a stakeholder-driven question, collect and analyze field data with faculty guidance, and present actionable findings to local partners.
  • Earn academic credit: 18 credits for semester programs and 6 credits for summer programs. Conduct a 4-credit research project during the semester program.

Video and Photos

Prayer flags flying in the wind in the mountains of Bhutan with large clouds above in a light blue sky
Two smiling students stand in front of prayer flags
A large traditional Bhutanese fortress-monastery sits beside a winding river, surrounded by forested mountains under a bright, partly cloudy sky.
Tiger's Nest Monastery
Students heading into the field
Students in front of the mountains
Plants
Students collecting data
SFS Student
Tshechus (festival)
Students sitting by a stream

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Popular Programs

A large traditional Bhutanese fortress-monastery sits beside a winding river, surrounded by forested mountains under a bright, partly cloudy sky.

Semester | Himalayan Environment in Transition

Students work in high Bhutanese valleys where altitude shapes ecology and culture. From alpine meadows to glacial rivers, they survey biodiversity and see how hydropower, climate change, and rural pressures challenge conservation ideals. With Gross National Happiness guiding stewardship, students learn from monastic communities and landscapes that reveal how tradition and development intersect.

A snowy mountain range rises above dense evergreen forests, with early sunlight casting shadows across the trees under a clear sky.

Summer | Forests in the Land of the Thunder Dragon

Explore the rich biodiversity, forests, culture, and dramatic mountain views of the Bhutanese Himalayas. Spend six weeks studying issues of conservation, forest management, and development, visiting ancient shrines, and surveying big cats and forests in one of the most fascinating countries in the world. Students meet SFS staff in Bangkok two days before the program start to explore the city and to ensure travel to Bhutan on the same flight.

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 2 reviews
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  • Academics 5
  • Support 5
  • Fun 5
  • Housing 5
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Showing 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Jenna
23
United States
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Best Decision I Ever Made

Nov 24, 2025

SFS Bhutan was the most incredible experience from start to finish. The classes were engaging, fun, and just so cool. The professors and center staff were amazing, and I loved the experiential learning aspects. We got to travel all around Bhutan, learning about/from different communities, practices, and traditions, and conduct research that let me hike the Himalayas and learn more about Bhutanese flora and fauna! Doing this program is the best decision I've ever made, I miss it so much and hope to go back to Bhutan some day! A once in a lifetime opportunity, I'm so glad I went.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
I got to try yak cheese! That was really cool. Butter tea, a traditional Bhutanese tea, and suja, a homemade Bhutanese alcohol, were also very cool to try. I'm vegetarian, but my meat-eating friends tried Yak meat as well which I'm told was delicious.
Pros
  • Travelling to different parts of Bhutan
  • Delicious, cheap food!
  • Incredible culture and spirituality
Cons
  • risk of getting ill from water
52 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Marta
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The world is your oyster...SFS helps you to shuck it!

May 26, 2019

I have been back in the U.S. for 2.5 weeks now, and I am glad to say that despite the time continuing to pass, I will never have a shortage of amazing memories to look back on from my semester in Bhutan.

The School for Field Studies has opened up the world for me; it has shown me another culture and way of life, a stunning country, and it has turned typical Western education on its head: you don’t have to be in a classroom to learn; you don’t need a library to study. SFS fosters learning in real-life situations: having to cope with language barriers when trying to interview locals; collaborating with peers to complete research projects; most of all, I think it helps foster self-reliance, self-compassion, and self-knowledge. Kadrinche la, Bhutan!

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?
Monks on the roof of a monastery, DANCING! They were fixing something on the roof and one was tied to another with a rope...it was both the most absurd and heartwarming thing I had seen!
193 people found this review helpful.
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A brilliant day in the Paro Valley

Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Elizabeth Ridolfi

Program
SFS Study Abroad: Himalayan Climate and Sustainability in Bhutan
Elizabeth is from Auburn, California but lives in Davis. She is an Environmental Horticulture Major. She spends most of her free time chasing her cat around and preventing him from getting into mischief.

female hiking

Why did you pick this program?

Elizabeth: I picked this program because I wanted real research experience and to travel abroad.

What do you wish someone had told you before you went abroad?

Elizabeth: I didn't want advice. I wanted to learn on my own.

What is the most important thing you learned abroad?

Elizabeth: Problem solving and communication. My people skills got a work out.

What do you tell your friends who are thinking about going abroad?

Elizabeth: DO IT and keep an open mind!

What was the hardest part about going abroad?

Elizabeth: Trying to not get frustrated at the new changes and adjustments you have to make to yourself.

What's your favorite story to tell about your time abroad?

Elizabeth: I love to tell people about the trek through the Himalayas and the sinking in quicksand, leech encounters and beautiful scenery.

What made this experience unique and special?

Elizabeth: Bhutan is a country that most people will never go to or see. Many people have not even heard of it. Just to go there was an honor.

Tell us about an experience you had that you could not have had at home.

Elizabeth: Climbing a mountain in a driving rainstorm was one of the proudest moments of my life. Even after climbing another taller mountain a month later, that mountain in Bhutan has to be my proudest moment.

bhutan fields

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

Elizabeth: Keep and open mind and do not stress out if something doesn't work the first time.

What made this trip meaningful to you, or how did this trip change your perceptions, future path?

Elizabeth: This trip proved that I was made out of much sterner stuff than people gave me credit for.

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Sophie Ohaus

Program
SFS Study Abroad: Himalayan Climate and Sustainability in Bhutan
Sophie Ohaus is currently the Program Intern at The School for Field Studies (SFS) in Bhutan. Sophie graduated from Colorado College in 2014 with a degree in Sociology and Global Health. After graduating she spent the year working for a qualitative analytics firm and a local community foundation, but the urge for adventure kept calling, leading to her to one of the most remote countries in the world, Bhutan!
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Did YOU study abroad?! If so, where and what inspired you to go?

I studied abroad three times! The first time was between high school and freshman year of college with The School For Field Studies in Australia. The second time was the summer between sophomore and junior year of college in Ecuador, and the third time was junior spring in India.

The first time I studied abroad, I went because I wanted a break from conventional schooling before starting college. However, I found that I loved it so much I was constantly driven towards finding more opportunities to study abroad.

Also, as a sociology major I discovered my passion for understanding how people interact with the world around them, especially the interactions between humans, development, and the environment. Studying abroad gave me the opportunity to explore these interactions among different cultures all over the world.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Communication is key! I believe that proper communication is one of the most important aspects towards insuring a successful company, especially in study abroad where everyone is working outside their home environment and it is easy to get lost in a hectic schedule.

Our staff makes sure to check in at least once a day by having breakfast all together, and we have longer staff meetings once a week. These daily check-ins and weekly meetings help all of us stay on the same page and also makes sure that everything runs smoothly.

What unique qualities does your company possess?

I believe that The School for Field Studies gives its student a rare opportunity to immerse themselves and give back to the local community through the unique Directed Research (DR) component. During the DR part of the semester, students have the chance to conduct a research project that specifically relates to the local community’s environmental needs.

Due to each SFS research station’s unique long-term research plan, these projects can build off themselves year to year, ensuring that the research informs local stakeholders and helps them to create positive changes in the community.

Here in Bhutan, the students don’t only get to present to the local community, but they also get the opportunity to present to a much larger audience in the country’s capital of Thimphu.

The Directed Research aspect is such a strong feature of SFS that with the guidance of our professors and the help from local stakeholders, the students often produce very high quality reports which has allowed them to present back home, get published, or develop senior theses.

Describe a time when you felt especially proud to be part of the SFS team.

It's hard to pick one specific time that I've felt especially proud to be part of the SFS team, there are just too many! Seeing how much our students grow over their experience in Bhutan is always a very rewarding experience.

This usually culminates for me when I watch them present their Directed Research findings at the end of the semester. Dressed in traditional ghos and kiras, the students always impress me, not only with their research but also in the way that they present themselves.

The ease at which they can talk to the local people, dress in national dress, and discuss their research makes me proud to know that these students are a part of The School for Field Studies' community.

About The School for Field Studies (SFS)

The School for Field Studies (SFS) offers field-based programs that revolve around environmental studies and research. The programs involve exploration of the human and ecological aspects of issues having to do with the local environments. Students assist SFS's global partners and host communities in their research, finding meaningful solutions to...

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