SIT Study Abroad: Ecuador: Compar. Ecology and Conservation

SIT's Comparative Ecology program was a life changing experience that I will never forget! Due to the nature of the program, including living with host families and going on trips to different ecosystems so frequently, every second was an opportunity to learn, grow, and laugh. Each of our excursion destinations holds a very special place in my heart. From the biodiversity of hummingbirds in the Paramo to swimming with sea lions in the Galapagos, each day in Ecuador inspired me more. In addition to the time spent experiencing new cultures and biomes with a great group of new friends and our professors, I had the opportunity to complete an individual research project. With this I had the chance to live and work in the Amazon Rainforest, completing research that has implications on my current position post-grad and being lucky enough to experience life with a Quichuan family. If you're considering this program, my advice would to be to get lots of rest before you go and prepare to trust in the process of things, but to definitely do it! I love and adore this program and everything it taught me, and hope you do too!

Before applying, I had doubts about whether I should study abroad and whether or not it should be with this program. Now that I have completed it, however, the thought that I might have gone elsewhere haunts me. I am so thankful to have been a student in Ecuador with SIT, and it has had major positive impacts on my plans for the future. As a student of Environmental Biology in St. Louis, this program gave me field research experiences I couldn't have gotten anywhere else that perfectly complemented what I had already learned in school. After numerous trips to conduct research in some of the coolest places on Earth (cloud forests, the Amazon, the Paramo, and the Galapagos islands), I spent a month studying spider populations in the Amazon for an independent research project that I was able to bring from initial concept to a completed research paper. If this seems intense, fear not! The lovely professors of this program will help build your confidence over the semester and teach you the skills necessary to do something similar yourself (I certainly felt that way). On top of all of this, I met lovely people along the way and felt truly comfortable and informed within the Ecuadorian cultural context. If you are interested in gaining field research experience, seeing some of the most gorgeous parts of the world, and applying theoretical ecology concepts that you've learned in school, look no further. This program is perfect.

I was very hesitant about leaving my college and missing out on a semester, but I'm so glad I made this choice! This program is an amazing combination of hands-on environmental science and ecology fieldwork, program-organized travel to all major ecoregions (that wouldn't be accessible to typical tourists), exposure to very different styles of life and groups of people, and experiencing Ecuador through living with host families and exploration with other students in the program. The excursions were the highlight of this program- it was such a refreshing change of pace to have days filled with setting up mist nets for birds in the morning, learning about macroinvertebrates and sampling in the afternoon, and looking for monkeys or using moth light traps in the evenings. They were exhausting, with long days of hiking, collecting data, and listening to guest lectures about topics related to that region, but so incredible and never felt like "work" in a burdensome way. Snorkeling in the Galápagos is certainly not a normal type of schoolwork. Less mentioned in program material is how easy it is to travel and explore independently, too. Almost every weekend, members of our group took buses to different parts of the country and got to see awesome volcanos, visit indigenous markets, ride bikes down waterfall routes, climb mountains, and explore the awesome food, museums, and neighborhoods of Quito, all for very cheap. For me, the independent research project was the most rewarding and challenging experience. I had a wonderful month spent living with a rural community and 2 other SIT students and designing and carrying out a project that was very relevant to my community's needs. I am a much more confident researcher now, have great professional contacts who served as my advisors, and feel more qualified for a variety of field research positions and academic work in Spanish in the future. This program is not based around a university, which meant an adjustment to a very different academic structure, but people are drawn to this program for its uniqueness and we became a very close-knit group. In addition, I felt very connected to my host family, my host community from the research month, and others who I met throughout my time in Ecuador and can't wait to visit some of them again. Ecuador is a very friendly country and I absolutely loved getting to talk to people in academic and social settings and learn about their lives. I would do this program again in a heartbeat.