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New Zealand, Aotearoa “the land of the long white cloud,” a stunning place abounding with opportunities to explore, spectacular geological features, and an amazing array of marine life and ecosystems. Come join us as we follow in the footsteps of Maori sailors and the explorer Captain Cook on a journey through the culture and landscape of “middle earth.” This study abroad program will familiarize students with the diversity of geologic and marine processes that have shaped New Zealand. We will experience New Zealand in a unique way- through the lens of its beaches and biology to seek an understanding of how its people have influenced and adapted to their surroundings. Within an overarching multicultural experience, we will investigate how natural forces have interacted with the human presence to mold the environment we see today. In addition, with ready access to a broad panorama of the natural world, flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth, and the indigenous culture of the Maori, New Zealand is an ideal natural “classroom” for earth and marine sciences. Haere mai…Welcome!

These are field intensive courses emphasizing on-site excursions as well as survey and sampling methodologies appropriate for the geological and coastal marine sites that we will visit. Students will attend lectures and guest presentations, participate in fieldwork, and undertake lab analysis. Individually and/or in small groups, students will be responsible for written reports, oral summary presentations, and discussions. Fieldwork opportunities will include wave-swept ocean beaches, quite harbors and estuaries, active and extinct volcanoes, thick mangroves forests and seagrass meadows, saltmarshes and mudflats. Students will develop a web journal and present a photo-diary of their trip.

This will be a home-base type program, located at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. We will be housed in the university dorms, and dining hall meals will be provided. Visits and activities will encompass various sites around the North Island. We will climb up massive dunes and down rocky shorelines to the intertidal, we will ford streams and pause to soak in hot beach sands, venture into glowing caves and under dramatic sea arches, wander through primeval tree fern and kauri forests, all the while questioning and probing the geological and biological dynamics and rich historical tapestry of the surroundings.




	Program Overview

	New Zealand, Aotearoa “the land of the long white cloud,” a stunning place abounding with opportunities to explore, spectacular geological features, and an amazing array of marine life and ecosystems. Come join us as we follow in the footsteps of Maori sailors and the explorer Captain Cook on a journey through the culture and landscape of “middle earth.” This study abroad program will familiarize students with the diversity of geologic and marine processes that have shaped New Zealand. We will experience New Zealand in a unique way- through the lens of its beaches and biology to seek an understanding of how its people have influenced and adapted to their surroundings. Within an overarching multicultural experience, we will investigate how natural forces have interacted with the human presence to mold the environment we see today. In addition, with ready access to a broad panorama of the natural world, flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth, and the indigenous culture of the Maori, New Zealand is an ideal natural “classroom” for earth and marine sciences. Haere mai…Welcome! These are field intensive courses emphasizing on-site excursions as well as survey and sampling methodologies appropriate for the geological and coastal marine sites that we will visit. Students will attend lectures and guest presentations, participate in fieldwork, and undertake lab analysis. Individually and/or in small groups, students will be responsible for written reports, oral summary presentations, and discussions. Fieldwork opportunities will include wave-swept ocean beaches, quite harbors and estuaries, active and extinct volcanoes, thick mangroves forests and seagrass meadows, saltmarshes and mudflats. Students will develop a web journal and present a photo-diary of their trip. This will be a home-base type program, located at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. We will be housed in the university dorms, and dining hall meals will be provided. Visits and activities will encompass various sites around the North Island. We will climb up massive dunes and down rocky shorelines to the intertidal, we will ford streams and pause to soak in hot beach sands, venture into glowing caves and under dramatic sea arches, wander through primeval tree fern and kauri forests, all the while questioning and probing the geological and biological dynamics and rich historical tapestry of the surroundings.