Lang College Study Abroad Listings has a wide range of study abroad programs available.
Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS) has both semester and summer programs. Participants travel to Costa Rica or South Africa and live on one of the research stations. Programs are focused on one of the following: conservation, tropical biology or global health. For the Global Health program in Costa Rica, one year of Spanish is required, as participants spend time living with a Costa Rican family. For the Tropical Biology program in Costa Rica knowledge of Spanish is preferred.
Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science (BIOS) is a research program in marine science and oceanography that has summer and semester long programs. Students must be a science major and past the freshman year.
Sea Exploration Association (SEA) is a full semester program. Participants spend seven weeks at Woods Hole, studying marine biology and learning how to work together. Following this, you will join one of the two sailing vessels for a seven week trip, learning more marine biology, helping sail the vessel, and conduct a research project under the supervision of one of the biologists on board.
Erik Johanson epjohanson@gmail.com
“SEA was a transformative experience and I cannot recommend it more highly! I did a spring semester starting in Cape Cod at their Woods Hole Campus, taking a few days off mid-week, and then sailing from Key West to Bermuda and then down to St. Croix. The first few weeks on Cape Cod we worked in their lab beginning planning for our oceanographic research project, we completed a Maritime Studies course learning about the history of the whale trade and a course on sailing technique and the physics behind sailing. The second half we were out at sea going from the calm conveyer belt of the Gulf Stream through the rough seas between Bermuda and the lesser Antilles and then through the doldrums of the horse latitudes. I’ll never forget looking through microscopes and examining water samples while being strapped into the lab as we faced hurricane force winds during one major storm. It was the thrill of a lifetime! Definitely do it! If you’re looking to learn more about the sailings on the Pacific side I have a few friends I could introduce you to as well. But the first half both ship’s crews are together in Woods Hole, MA. You live communally on campus in a handful of nice Cape Cod style houses on the beautiful grounds. The area around the Cape is of course beautiful, I didn’t get to enjoy it during the summer but even in the dead of winter it was a blast. Be sure to get a linguica croissant at Pie in the Sky!!“
Steven Houang shouang@gmail.com
“The experiential learning and leadership/teamwork experiences at SEA was incredibly valuable, and coming from Lang I was well prepared to collaborate on research with other science students and think between disciplines. I’ve also used my experiences at SEA for job interview questions. All program tracks are rigorous (academically and physically), but some have more sailing while others have more science. I did the Marine Biodiversity & Conservation track, which is a new science and policy one that went from St. Croix to Bermuda (for a week packed with many meetings with scientists and conservation leaders), then back up to Woods Hole, MA riding the Gulf Stream. I did group research projects on ocean bacteria (I’ll never forget running DNA extractions and PCR during Hurricane Andrea) and conservation policy on the American eel, and also collected data for the ship’s longitudinal research projects. This program asked for 3 lab courses as prereqs, and I had taken Bhawani’s Chemistry of the Environment and Katayoun’s Biodiversity Lab, but also worked at GenSpace doing a bioengineering project with lots of cloning work, so they counted that. Cape Cod during late Spring was an amazing change of scenery from NYC and I agree the linguica and cheese croissant was amazing!”
Fellowships
Boren Awards combines interests in language and travel with research in culture and STEM
Gilman Scholarship specifically funds undergraduate study abroad experiences