University of Washington, Seattle
ER-12: Sustainability Immersive Experience

The University of Washington offers several sustainability immersive and sustainability focused educational study programs within culminating project experiences, studios, field courses, and International Programs and Exchanges. Selected list of Senior Capstone Experience and Culminating projects: - Environmental Studies Majors participate in a three-quarter Capstone Experience featuring a project-based internship with a community-based organization. http://depts.washington.edu/poeweb/students/capstone/capstone.html - Environmental Science and Resource Management Majors complete a 10-credit Senior Capstone featuring a senior project, research thesis, and/or a restoration ecology field-based project. http://www.cfr.washington.edu/academicPrograms/undergrad/esrm/esrmcapstone.shtml - Aquatic and Fishery Sciences Majors complete a three-quarter Capstone Senior Research Project featuring an independent or team research project, internship, and/or fieldwork at research center, government agency, and/or NGO. http://www.fish.washington.edu/undergraduates/learning/capstone.html# - Earth and Space Sciences Majors complete a summer field camp, a 12-credit, six-week course held in Dillon, Montana featuring geological field work, field trips, and group and individual projects. http://www.ess.washington.edu/ess/education/undergrad/fieldcamp/index.html - Oceanography Majors complete a two-quarter Senior Thesis project in which they design their own research projects to be carried out during a week-long cruise aboard a research vessel. - Community, Environment, and Planning Majors complete a three-quarter capstone series, in which they design their own projects working with community “clients” on environmental and sustainability projects. http://cep.caup.washington.edu/reqs.php - Environmental Management Certificate program graduate students complete a two-quarter, team Keystone Project with community partners to address environmental problems with policy, scientific, and business ramifications. http://depts.washington.edu/poeweb/students/gradprograms/envmgt/ - Restoration Ecology Minor students complete a three-quarter, team-based Senior Capstone focused on completing a local restoration project with a community client; student teams plan, design, install, and monitor a restoration project. http://depts.washington.edu/uwren/capstone/capstone.htm Selected list of immersive studio and field courses: - The Program on the Environment offers ENVIR 480, a “Sustainability Studio” course in which student research teams analyze specific sustainability practices on the UW campus, focusing each quarter on a different set of specific sustainability practices related to food, water, energy, and climate, among other topics. http://depts.washington.edu/poeweb/students/fyi.html - The Community, Environment, and Planning program offers the following sustainability-focused immersive course experiences: CEP 200 - Students explore the importance of looking at communities, the natural environment, and the process of planning to solve critical issues by engaging in service learning. CEP 446 - Students complete internships that relate to the community, the environment, and planning. CEP 460 Studio Course - students work with planning departments and neighborhood organizations to support environment/sustainability projects. http://cep.caup.washington.edu/ - The School of Oceanography offers several sustainability-focused immersive course experiences: Beam Reach - an intensive 10-week-long "voyage" divided between the Friday Harbor Labs and a sailing research vessel. Students conduct independent research projects that use bioacoustic techniques to explore endangered killer whales, their prey, and their environment. Ocean Observing Initiative - research cruise onboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson; students use the Canadian remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS to contribute to the on-going installation of the Ocean Observatories Initiative's (OOI) Regional Scale Nodes (RSN), a high power and high bandwidth cabled observatory. OCEAN 492: Ocean Acidification Research Apprenticeship - Students participate in an ocean acidification mesocosm experiment by helping to design and conduct the overall sampling and by creating their own specific research study. The University of Washington International Programs and Exchanges (IPE) provide hundreds of study abroad and internship options to UW students. A variety of study abroad models are available including University Exchanges, UW Programs, Exploration Seminars, and Affiliated Programs. Within these programs, multiple opportunities immerse students in sustainability, including but not limited to the following: Biology Peru - From Andes to Amazon: Biodiversity, Conservation & Sustainability (Exploration Seminar) Built Environments Peru - Informal Urban Settlements in Lima - Designing, Building and Sustaining Healthy Environments (Exploration Seminar) CIEE Sustainability and Community Program in Stellenbosch, South Africa CIEE Sustainability and the Environment in Monteverde, Costa Rica CIEE Sustainability and the Environment Program in Perth, Australia French Studies in Martinique: Environmental Cultural Studies in the French Caribbean Honors Ecuador: International Studies in Writing and Sustainable Practices International Studies India: Environment & Development in the Indian Himalayas School of Law and Program on the Environment in Spain: Rights, Governance and Culture in Sustainable Access to Water SIT Study Abroad Australia: Sustainability and Environmental Action SIT Study Abroad Panama: Tropical Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Conservation SIT Study Abroad Tanzania: Wildlife Conservation and Political Ecology SIT Study Abroad Tanzania: Zanzibar Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management The School for Field Studies - Summer Program in Sustaining Tropical Ecosystems and Applied Research Techniques in Costa Rica The School for Field Studies - Sustainable Development Studies The School for Field Studies-Summer Program in Rainforest Management Studies and Techniques for Rainforest Research in Australia and New Zealand http://studyabroad.washington.edu/