Challenging yet Life Changing

The beauty of this program is the diversity of ways in which the curriculum is taught to you. I would say that the entire program is split up into three different parts. The reason this worked so well was that it allowed people to gain information in different ways and seeing as everyone learns differently it has something to offer to anyone who might go.

The three parts were split up into field trips, normal classroom setting, and independent research. There is over four weeks of field trip throughout the program which allows for real hand on learning out in nature. Personally I found this very helpful because I am a very hands on visual learner. Actually hiking through a primary forest and talking about a tree that is right in front of you is much different than sitting in a classroom looking at a picture of it. The classroom setting portion allowed us to talk much more in depth about what we had already seen on the field trips and also learn valuable scientific skills such as reading manuscripts, and working with stats. The last portion, individual research, seemed to be the most unique portion of the program. While I know of many other programs that require their students to do research, I felt that CIEE, in particular, had their students go much more in depth than is usual. For starters, it is a month long portion of your overall studies which allows for real results to be recorded. The professors are helping you every step of the way by advising you in choosing a topic, writing research proposals, setting up trials, and finally writing a finished research paper as if it were to be published. Seeing as it is out of the ordinary for undergraduate students to have research experience this is something that can really help to set you apart in the future.

Overall this is a great program and I would recommend it to anyone that is passionate about ecology and is also ready to be challenged to progress their scientific knowledge at a faster rate than they ever have before.