Extended Field Experience

For Natural Resources and Environmental Science (NRES) students, an extended field experience is required. In NRE320 students are immersed in learning hands-on skills related to wildlife ecology, aquatic ecology, watershed science, botany, forest measurements, natural resource policy, ecotourism, and more. NRES students have two options for their experience—either two weeks at Robinson Forest in beautiful eastern Kentucky, or a 15-day study-abroad course in Costa Rica.

Robinson Forest is a 3-week summer experience that covers forest resources and measurements, aquatic ecology, stream restoration, mining reclamation, reforestation, and wildlife habitat assessment.

The 15-day Costa Rica experience introduces students to tropical ecology, making use of the tremendous ecological and ecosystem diversity that Costa Rica provides, while engaging in topics that range from herpetology and ecology to sustainable farming and ecotourism.