Read below to find out more information about how Study Abroad works with Environmental and Sustainability Studies!
Click the next slide to hear about ESS student experiences!
Arika Manuel (center front of photo) studied abroad in Monteverde, Costa Rica as part of the Statistics and Data Science department. Manuel's research project focused on assessing the health quality of local streams, with metrics including air and water temperature, pH levels, turbidity, and other factors, using the R programming language to analyze this data. Monteverde is renowned for its biodiversity, and the health of its streams is vital for both the local ecosystem and community.
Reflecting on her experience, Arika said "This program allowed me to not only learn about environmental science and policy but also to witness the tangible impacts of these policies on the environment and the people who depend on it. The community engagement aspect of the program is incredibly rewarding."
How to get transfer credits:
For many Study Abroad courses, students must submit their transcript from abroad and apply for department course credit at CMU. The ESS team does not have the power to approve study abroad courses for CMU credit. Students will need to determine which department to submit to based on the courses taken abroad. The full list of Study Abroad contact persons is a great resource to figure out who to reach out to. Students can always ask the ESS team for help determining what department would be best to submit to.
An example:
A study abroad course in Chemistry would be sent to the Department of Chemistry, and if the Department approves it, the course would appear on a student's official CMU transcript as something like "09-xxx course," with the appropriate amount of units.
Some programs do not require students to transfer credits over, and the full list of study abroad programs goes into detail about the types of programs offered at CMU.
For Environmental & Sustainability Studies:
After the units are granted and the courses appear on a student's transcript, our team in Environmental & Sustainability Studies can determine if the courses count towards elective courses for the minor or additional major. Students should provide more information about the course including a syllabus to the ESS team. The usual rules about elective courses being external to student's home college still apply here. More information on electives and elective rules can be found on the ESS undergraduate program page.
There is only one study abroad course that can fulfill a non-elective requirement for the ESS additional major. The Monteverde, Costa Rica Study Abroad program offers Tropical Ecology (03-128), which fulfills the "Earth and Environmental Science" requirement for additional majors and does not have any prerequsites. It also can count as an elective for students taking the minor or students that have already fulfilled the science requirement for the addtional major.