Sample Placements
Hawaii, Fiji, Thailand, Nepal, Australia

Amy wanted to explore an Asian religion and learn more about the ancient art of meditation. She was placed in a prominent Zen Buddhist Center where she awoke at 5:30 A.M. each morning to the sound of the temple gong. For the first few days, trading a warm bed for a hard meditation cushion was nothing short of torture. By the tenth-day, she was up before the gong and enjoying each subtle breath before the temple regulars started filing in. She left the temple better than she found it: initiating a recycling program and compost pile for the community. Amy now leads student orientation trips for U.C. Santa Cruz and has incorporated meditation into her daily life.

Brian was moved by a National Geographic video that he saw on extinction rates in Hawaii. Allergic to office buildings, he was placed on a rainforest work crew for the National Biological Service. Brian mist-netted and banded birds and recorded important data later used in the construction of a Park management plan.

Matt wanted to live on an active volcano. Little did he know that during his placement with the Park Service, he would become an important player in recording a massive flank eruption! Riding shotgun with Park Rangers and U.S. Geological Survey scientists, Matt helped map the flow of lava and received a privileged view of Mother Nature in her fury and beauty.

Andrea wanted an inside angle on how a major environmental organization is run. A placement with the Nature Conservancy on an outer island provided that insight. Her competence impressed Conservancy staff-members and she soon found herself a major player in their educational outreach efforts.

Steve wanted to conduct scientific research on dolphins. A placement with a University of Hawaii dolphin researcher allowed him to explore the inner-world of one of the ocean’s most intelligent species.