Summer Session 1
4 Weeks
4 Credits
Summer 2025
Jun 2 - Jul 1
Open
Program Costs
- Tuition
- Room & Board
- Total
Application Deadlines
Summer 2025
April 1, 2025
Resources
Summer Session 1 Program
Marsupials of Australia
Tropical North Queensland,
Australia
In a land of strange and fascinating wildlife, spend your summer observing tree-climbing kangaroos, egg-laying mammals, flightless birds, giant lizards, and the many other iconic animals that live in Australia’s ancient rainforests and dry savannas. Learn how each of these species has developed special adaptations to Australia’s unusual habitats and consider the policies and actions needed to preserve these precious ecosystems.
- Explore the UNESCO World Heritage Forests of north Queensland – the only place in Australia home to marsupial tree kangaroos.
- Go spotlighting during night hikes in the rainforest and observe hopping bandicoots and gliders emerging from trees. Learn about these species’ history of connecting people with the land.
- Connect with a representative of the area’s Aboriginal Mob for stories highlighting First Nations people’s connection with their land and wildlife.
Photo Gallery
Academics
This academically rigorous program follows a six-day/week schedule. Each program combines theory learned during classroom sessions with field-based applications. The interdisciplinary curriculum is designed to help students actively discover and understand the complexities of environmental, social, and economic issues in Australia. Read more about the SFS program model.
Major academic themes include:
- Evolution, biogeography and taxonomy of major wildlife groups of Australia
- Physiology and behavioral ecology of marsupials
- Adaptations of Australia’s wildlife to different environments
- Impact of climate change and human development on Australia’s unique wildlife
- Mitigation and conservation policies
Courses
On the Marsupials of Australia program, you will take one 4-credit course. This course is participatory in nature and is designed to foster inquiry and active learning combining lectures, field exercises, assignments, and tests. This course is taught in English. Click on the course to view a description and download the syllabus.
Click on the
to view a description and download the syllabus.
SFS 3272
Marsupials of Australia
4 credits
SFS 3272
Marsupials of Australia
4 credits
In this course you will understand the factors that resulted in the dominance of marsupials on the Australian continent and current factors that jeopardize their survival into the future. You will become familiar with a wide array of marsupial species that inhabit different habitats of Australia today and which threats they are facing. Mitigating these threats requires knowledge of their ecology and behavior, the application of sophisticated and preferably non-invasive field research methods and the introduction of effective conservation policies. This course will introduce you to some of these field research methods that Australian scientists are using to study marsupials and other mammalian species and to the current legislative and community-driven conservation tools.
Core Skills
You will gain practical skills in the field such as: wildlife observation techniques, non-invasive population assessments, habitat and biodiversity assessment, population viability studies, citizen science protocols, and human development impact assessment methods.
Field Sites
You will visit different ecosystems and communities which may include primary and secondary tropical rainforest, savannah habitat, caves, coastal scrub and mangroves, wetlands, and local conservation and restoration groups.
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Program Costs
- Tuition
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- Total
Summer Session 1
Marsupials of Australia
4 Weeks
4 Credits
Summer 2025
Jun 2 - Jul 1
Open
More Information
Program Costs
- Tuition
- Room & Board
- Total
Summer Session 2
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Australia