Binghamton University student Lucas Grabowski studied abroad on SIT Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics. This story was originally published on the Binghamton College website. It is reprinted here with permission.
- Learn more about SIT Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics
By Tasfia Rubayat
When Lucas Grabowski ’23 returned to the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science as a senior after a summer in Iceland, he brought with him a new understanding of renewable energy technology.
The mechanical engineering major from Syracuse, N.Y., traveled to the Land of Fire and Ice shortly after finishing his last final exam. Upon his arrival, he began an intensive 9-credit course, jam-packed with traveling, sightseeing, and traditional class time.
“They didn’t really give us a lot of information going into it, but it was very laid out and structured once we got there,” Grabowski says. “They had our housing and transportation all taken care of, so they were really focused on us learning and taking it all in and having a great experience, rather than having to figure out all the logistics.”
Iceland has plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2040, making this particular education-abroad program a perfect match for Grabowski and his interest in the renewable energy sector.
I looked at how we can create a local power source there. A pumped hydropower plant could be powered by a local wind farm. They also have a lot of channels in the northern region of Iceland, so I was thinking about a tidal barrage that would spin a turbine and produce energy.
Run by School of International Training, the program unfolded across four hub locations. Grabowski and other American students—including six additional Binghamton University students in different fields of study—visited and toured several geothermal and hydroelectric plants, wind and solar farms, and Icelandic parks to learn more about the region’s unique geology.
“Geothermal research there is huge because they have so many volcanoes,” Grabowski says. “And they’re on a tectonic plate barrier, so they pull a lot of the heat from there to produce energy.”
Grabowski applied to the program in October 2021 and submitted recommendations, an essay, his GPA and a background check. After receiving his acceptance, he communicated with his professors to ensure the credits from his education-abroad program would count toward his major.
“Students can work with their undergraduate director to assess course equivalents or participate in an already approved program,” says Jennifer Drake-Deese, Watson College’s director of undergraduate advising. “Studying abroad over the summer is an excellent way to have an international experience, fulfill a general education requirement and still stay on track to graduate in four years.”
As an official education-abroad ambassador, Grabowski encourages students, especially those from Watson, to pursue opportunities to study in a different country.
“Don’t say you can’t do it until you actually can’t do it. Just be open to everything,” he says. “There are different opportunities, and you’re not limited to internships over the summer. Not a lot of people know they can do this, especially as a Watson student. I never thought these possibilities existed, but unless you actually see it in action, it seems far from your reach. Now I can take those experiences and apply it to my future career.”
Grabowski and his team members visited the northern region of Westfjords to learn about its unique challenges with energy cost and conservation. Despite having a smaller population than Iceland’s capital city, Westfjords has much greater energy costs.
“They use a lot of diesel generators because they don’t have a great power source from the main grid. They have to adapt in that way and their energy price is higher, even though there aren’t a lot of people,” Grabowski says. “We learned about their challenges there and what their struggles are and the initiatives to combat that.”
He centered his independent research project on the region and worked toward developing plans that may improve its economy while preserving the environment.
“I looked at how we can create a local power source there,” he says. “A pumped hydropower plant could be powered by a local wind farm. They also have a lot of channels in the northern region of Iceland, so I was thinking about a tidal barrage that would spin a turbine and produce energy.”
As he traveled even farther north, Grabowski reached the Arctic Circle and experienced 24 hours of daylight, accompanied by perpetual freezing temperatures.
“We took a boat ride over there. Just seeing the views and the ocean, the mountains, the landscape, and there were puffins everywhere,” he says. “It was like realizing how beautiful the world is and laying the foundation for why we’re here, to learn about renewable energy and how to preserve it.”
In the capital city of Reykjavík, Grabowski was immersed in traditional classroom-style learning. Icelandic professors and industry experts lectured on the technical aspects of renewable energy technology used in the region.
“We learned it in class, then went out and applied it, and for me that was very beneficial,” he says.
In addition to the mechanical and technical side of his research, Grabowski attended a wide range of classes that gave him well-rounded perspectives about the economic and political aspects of the renewable-energy sector.
Just seeing the views and the ocean, the mountains, the landscape, and there were puffins everywhere. It was like realizing how beautiful the world is and laying the foundation for why we’re here, to learn about renewable energy and how to preserve it.
“One big takeaway I noticed was that rather than cutting back on regulations and easing into it, they’re going more aggressive. Over here, it’s more the opposite way,” he says. “They’re seeing it more as an economic way to advance the country rather than just saving the planet. Seeing both sides helps connect people toward a common goal.”
Despite the ambitious academic schedule, Grabowski and his teammates were able to enjoy weekends at their own pace. As an avid hiker, he was eager to pursue adventures that allowed him to take in the natural beauty of Iceland as often as he could.
“We got the weekend off, which was really nice,” he says. “We hiked and they had a lot of natural springs, but one of my favorites was when we hiked 45 minutes up this canyon to a geothermal hot river where the water was like 100 degrees and it was like a natural hot tub.”
Grabowski’s passion for renewable energy is rooted in his appreciation for environmental beauty. Inspired by his trip to Iceland, he hopes to pursue a career related to renewable energy.
“I met Lucas when he was a student in my undergraduate mechanical engineering class, Thermodynamics. It was clear that he had a passion for energy research and development,” says Paul Chiarot, associate professor and chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department. “He did great in my class. I was happy to hear that he was invited for the internship in Iceland. He had the opportunity to learn from world-class experts on energy generation and efficiency, with the goal of bringing this knowledge back to New York.”
As part of the program, Grabowski developed two case studies, based in New York and New Jersey, that applied different renewable energy methods to gauge economic and social feasibility. He spoke with professors in Iceland to learn how to calculate power production numbers and their suggestions to state governments about reaching carbon neutrality.
He had the opportunity to learn from world-class experts on energy generation and efficiency, with the goal of bringing this knowledge back to New York.
Associate Professor Paul Chiarot, chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department
“We wanted to know how much power we would need to produce to go 100 percent renewable energy in New Jersey and New York, and it was crazy to see that we need a lot,” he says. “It’s not super-feasible, so it just shows that it’s a collective effort to cut down on the carbon that we use here.”
Grabowski looks forward to applying what he learned in Iceland to environmental preservation efforts in the U.S.
“It’s very inspiring to see that these things can happen—people are actually doing it. That was why I wanted to go over there and bring some of that knowledge back,” he says. “It’s our generation that is tackling this problem because we are seeing all the effects of climate change. It’s our turn to step up to the plate and do something about it.”
As a Bucknell University engineering student, Lucille Ketterer studied abroad with SIT in spring 2022 on Iceland: Climate Change and the Arctic, where she researched carbon sequestration in one of the greenest countries in the world. In February, thanks to funding from her university, she presented her research, Sequester My Carbon, at the Notre Dame Human Development Conference.
- Click HERE to find out more about the 2024 Human Development Conference
“We did our research for a reason and sharing it is important,” Ketterer said. She saw the conference as an opportunity to make more people aware of the issues she had researched and spread information about the importance of carbon sequestration. What’s more, she noted, the presentation and speaking skills needed to participate in a conference are considered assets as students move into their careers.
After graduating in May with a degree in environmental engineering, Ketterer is working for an engineering firm in a rotational position where she moves around the U.S. over the course of a year.
We reached her in Utah, where she is assessing ventilation systems, to talk about how she found support for her Notre Dame presentation. She gave us these pointers on how to find funding and why it’s important:
Presentations build your confidence, which helps in your job search.
Conferences are a great way to build confidence in your presentation and speaking skills, which will help you as you move into a career, Ketterer said. “I always mentioned my conference presentation in job interviews and employers responded positively,” she said. Meeting other participants and moderators at the conference who had more experience and expertise was a growth and networking opportunity. “I would say the conference was a valuable experience, especially in building career skills. It shows employers that you are willing to go above and beyond.”
Ask in person.
Ketterer planned to first approach the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for funding. If that didn’t work, she intended to go to the next level, the College of Engineering, but that wasn’t necessary. Her department provided full funding for the conference, including travel, lodging, and meal expenses.
Ketterer recommends making the initial request in person. She set up a meeting with the chair of her department, with whom she had taken a class, which gave her an advantage because they knew each other. “But even if you don’t know the chair, you can ask one of your current professors to introduce you,” she suggested.
Network.
“I talked with other professors in the department in advance of the meeting with the chair and told them about my research and the conference. They said it sounded like a great idea, so I made sure to mention to the chair that I had the support of these other department faculty.
Be prepared.
Ketterer went to her meeting with a folder containing information about the Notre Dame Human Development conference, her proposal, and her research, and what proved to be most important, an Excel spreadsheet with her estimated costs for attending the conference including flights, hotel, and food.
Budget!
Procedures differ at each institution. At Bucknell, after the chair approved her funding, the department was able to purchase her flights and hotels directly, so she had no out-of-pocket expenses for those costs. The department procedures also allowed her to request a travel advance, but Ketterer opted to use her own funding for meals and keep the receipts for reimbursement after the conference.
Offer to follow up.
In her meeting with the chair, Ketterer offered to present, speak, or otherwise help to publicize her research and her experience, either within the department or externally, when she returned. As it turns out, she was asked to write a short summary of her conference experience.
Karen Rau is a graduate student in Coastal Communities and Regional Development at the University of the Westfjords, studying under the direction of Matthias Kokorsch. She earned her applied social science degree from Colorado State University. She has worked at a community college in Colorado Springs as an admissions counselor and she created training modules for the enrollment services department. She is working on her thesis, analyzing policy regarding rural areas and abandoned towns. Her research will address how policy can lead to geographies of exclusion due to inadequate and fluid definitions of “rural”.
Karen is working on her thesis from her home state of Colorado, where she lives in a rural municipality with her husband, two dogs, and a half million honeybees.
Study examines human health-environment link
The Human Health chapter of the Vermont Climate Assessment is not light reading. From household mold to tick-borne diseases to the effects of extreme weather on mental health, the chapter spells out in frank and uncluttered terms what Vermonters can expect from a warming climate.
“The myriad effects of climate change impact every part of the human body in one way or another, and climate change effects also disrupt health systems, supply chains, and health infrastructure,” the introduction declares. The Human Health chapter is part of a 500-page assessment, published in November, detailing the myriad ways climate change will impact Vermont.
While the unvarnished information is not comforting, that’s part of its power. Addressing health and nine other subjects in separate chapters, the assessment is an urgent call to action to address climate change, and an invaluable tool for policymakers.
The idea of the overlap between climate and human health lodged in my brain.
That’s one reason why SIT Climate Change & Global Sustainability alumna Stephanie Clement decided to spend a year and a half volunteering to be the primary writer of the health chapter. “The assessment is there to inform policy making. The folks who are creating policy for Vermont’s Climate Action Plan are referencing our chapters. So, it is a critical tool for policy assessment,” says Clement.
The assessment got a lot of attention when it was released in November. “The feedback has been amazing,” Clement says. “It’s empowering to be referenced and questioned, and to engage in intellectual conversations about real-life issues. This is tangible and real – those are the things I joined SIT for.”
Just a little more than two years ago, Clement was hiking across glaciers in Iceland and studying coral reefs in Zanzibar as part of the small second cohort of SIT’s Climate Change and Global Sustainability MA program.
One of the great things about travel—something SIT knows very well—is that it completely upends your comfort and known existence in the world.
The daughter of an international development worker and an SIT TESOL alumna, Clement was familiar with SIT’s approach to education. She grew up in Africa and the Middle East, studied international development as an undergrad at McGill University, and served with the Peace Corps in Zambia, where she began to pay closer attention to the intersection of health and the environment.
“The idea of the overlap between climate and human health lodged in my brain. People are so dependent on land and environment; it’s hard to separate human well-being and health and environment and health,” she says.
With its trans-continental focus on the intersection of natural and social sciences, SIT’s program seemed like a logical fit for Clement. The SIT program features a small cohort and direct access to the program chair, Dr. Jonathan Walz, and other professors.
“One of the great things about travel—something SIT knows very well—is that it completely upends your comfort and known existence in the world, what you know and rely upon. You have to readjust and learn. Iceland was so foreign to me. I had never been to a northern country like that. It kept me on my toes. That contrasted so strongly with Zanzibar, tropical, south of the equator, with heat, humidity, and so many people. That juxtaposition keeps you constantly alert and aware and learning about your environment.”
The third semester of the Climate Change program is a practicum designed to be carried out anywhere in the world. Clement originally had intended to do hers in an agro-forestry program in Senegal, but COVID-19 disrupted that plan. Instead, she ended up back home working with the nonprofit Vermont Climate and Health Alliance (VTCHA), researching and writing about connections between community, climate, and the COVID-19 response.
Her VTCHA contacts eventually recommended Clement as a lead writer for the health chapter of the Vermont Climate Assessment. On top of her full-time job with the U.S.-Canada nonprofit One Tree Planted, she took on the Herculean task of learning more about the impacts of climate change on human health in Vermont.
That meant collecting and writing about myriad aspects of human health related to climate change. “What happens to Vermonters who are used to a colder climate. How a changing climate will affect vulnerable populations. What happens with air quality and more pollen. The impacts of climate on mental health. So many of these things are being underreported and under-represented,” Clement says.
With that information now available publicly, Clement hopes it will catalyze a statewide plan of action.
“In Vermont we have been ahead of the curve in so many areas on a small, localized scale. In 2016, for example, Burlington was the first city in country to run completely on renewable energy,” But that local action hasn’t grown into state or regional policy, she notes.
“We have to fix our electric grid, get electric vehicles on the road, get homes weatherized, fix our infrastructure. It’s much larger than local actions.”
Still, Clement has faith in Vermonters. “If Vermont stays true to its values, there will be a lot of community conversations about what needs to be done. I have a lot of hope and positivity about how Vermont will engage. We are community action-oriented people.
“I really hope there are tangible results that come out of this. It would feel like the effort we put in was for something good.”
Although SIT program delivery was modified in 2021, SIT Study Abroad and SIT Graduate Institute continued to provide life-changing international experiences for graduate and undergraduate students throughout the year.
Not surprisingly, the challenges brought about by COVID-19 meant that many of the most popular programs in each division were either hybrid or virtual. Nevertheless, students like Tiffany Padilla, who studied Tibetan online, found “immense value in experiencing a study abroad of any kind.”
Read “Insights from a virtual study abroad”
Top 5 SIT Graduate programs in 2021
Based on enrollment, the most popular SIT Graduate Institute programs in 2021 were:
1. Part-time hybrid MA in Sustainable Development
In this two-year program, students learn to support thriving communities and build skills in community development and social change. They work with their professors and cohort online, with brief residencies in Vermont and field courses in Nepal and Mexico.
Read Randal McCoy’s capstone paper, “Black Lives Matter”
2. Part-time hybrid MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
SIT is a national leader in TESOL training so it’s no surprise that this two-year program continues to rank among SIT’s most popular. Grounded in plurilingual pedagogy and led by experts in the field, the program provides students the opportunity to specialize in one of four subject areas: teacher training, plurilingual pedagogy, teaching refugees and displaced persons, or teaching young learners.
Find out more about plurilingual pedagogy
3. Part-time hybrid MA in International Education
In this two-year hybrid MA, students learn to lead education programs in communities around the world. The program features brief summer residencies on SIT’s scenic Vermont campus and includes electives focused on leadership, peacebuilding, language education, international development, and intercultural service.
Program chair Dr. Sora Friedman talks about her new book
4. Global MA in Climate Change & Global Sustainability
In SIT’s one-year Global Master’s programs, students study in a different country each semester and in most cases complete their final capstone anywhere in the world. Among our first and most popular of these global formats is Climate Change & Global Sustainability. With one semester each in Iceland and Tanzania, students gain the knowledge, skills, and global experience to address climate change and enhance the sustainability of environments and responsible human livelihoods. Alumni from this program have gone on to careers in public policy and NGO fields.
Climate Change alumna Danielle Purvis: ‘The ways of the world must change’
5. Global MA in Diplomacy and International Relations
Students prepare for careers in international, regional, and global affairs or diplomacy to address some of the most critical issues facing the planet. This one-year program takes place in South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States for key points of comparison among U.S., European, and African perspectives as students learn how to function with the global political system.
Program chair Dr. Bruce Dayton: ‘We’re at a tipping point’
Top 5 SIT Study Abroad programs for 2021
Based on enrollment, the most popular SIT Study Abroad programs and countries in 2021 were:
1 & 2. Iceland
SIT Study Abroad’s two most popular programs in 2021 were both immersive experiences in Iceland. Students on our semester program, Climate Change and the Arctic, were drawn to the beauty of Iceland’s glaciers, volcanoes, coastlines and waterfalls. In that dramatic setting, they study climate models and carbon management with experts on the front lines of the fight against climate change.
SIT’s summer program in Iceland, Renewable Energy, Technology & Resource Economics, is similarly focused on climate and environment, attracting students interested in energy policy and renewable energy technologies.
3 & 5. South Africa
Summer and semester Virtual Internships in Diplomacy, Conflict Resolution, and International Relations ranked third and fifth respectively in 2021, preparing students for careers in human rights or global affairs. Both programs explore non-western perspectives on conflict resolution, human rights, international relations, and south-south diplomacy in cooperation with partners like the Africa Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Africa’s largest conflict resolution NGO.
4. Kenya
Another virtual internship in Africa ranked among our top 5. On our summer program Kenya: Virtual Internship in Public Health in the Tropics students have the opportunity to intern with a community or research organization, business, government agency, or NGO. This program is carried out in partnership with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Centers for Disease Control, and other organizations working on public health issues in Kisumu. (The semester version of this program was also popular, coming in sixth in our 2021 ranking.)
#1 Muse: Ecuador
Last but not least, we would be remiss if we failed to include Ecuador in this list as the country that inspires some of the most prolific writing among our students and alumni.
I was captivated by the Ecuador’s immense, thriving biodiversity.
Zane Libke
This program has caused me to reflect a lot on what exactly the goal of ‘development’ is, on what changes I actually want to make in the world, and how one should go about making change.
Meg Edwards
Exploring the cloud forest for five days and our trip to the Amazon was like, ‘Someone pinch me, I think I’m dreaming’.
Halle Catalina Brown
Each year, the U.S. Departments of Education and State designate a week to spotlight the importance of international education. “International education enhances cultural and linguistic diversity and helps to develop cross-cultural communication skills, foreign language competencies, and enhanced self-awareness and understanding of diverse perspectives,” this year’s statement reads.
At SIT, we welcome this opportunity to focus on the importance of the work we do year-round. And there is no better way to highlight this work than through the voices of our students and alumni.
Halle Catalina Brown studied abroad on SIT Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation in 2019. That experience was so foundational that she continues to blog about it and the Ecuador connections she made during her time there.
Ecuador study abroad excursion feels like an ‘unimaginable, wild dream’
My heart sank as I observed the destruction of some of the most wild and beautiful nature I’ve ever seen and the deep suffering of the people.
“I fell in love with the Amazon,” Halle writes in this blog post. “… Oftentimes, I would remind myself that the nature I was exploring has only been seen by a countable quantity of eyes. Possibly countable only on my fingers and toes. Which is the reason I find it so important to also provide education on the ways we are destroying this wildness.”
She goes on to describe in detail the shocking corporate and government practices that are destroying natural resources and local communities. “My heart sank as I observed the destruction of some of the most wild and beautiful nature I’ve ever seen and the deep suffering of the people. And we are all to blame.”
It’s no doubt that the pandemic has challenged our students’ ability to physically cross borders and experience other cultures in person, but that hasn’t deterred many students who are intent on enhancing their international education and expanding their world view.
Chile virtual internship offers new ‘vantage point’ on social change
I learned a lot about Chilean culture and was able to experience it from a close perspective …
In fall 2020, Spelman College international studies major Alix Swann joined SIT for Chile: Virtual Internship in Education & Social Change Organizations. “At first, I was apprehensive about the online experience, but it ended up being incredibly impactful,” Alix told us. “I learned a lot about Chilean culture and was able to experience it from a close perspective, as well as work with an organization who does a lot of work for women’s rights on the ground.”
University of Arkansas Honors College Fellow Meghana Chithirala, a pre-med junior, had planned to spend the summer polishing her language skills in France. When the pandemic interrupted those plans, Meghana joined SIT Kenya: Virtual Internship in Public Health in the Tropics.
SIT virtual internship with Kenyan hospital offers insights on public health
This internship was honestly one of the greatest opportunities I had been given.
Meghana’s rotations—in an HIV clinic and pediatrics, critical care, and neonatal units at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu—were an eye-opening introduction to public health, as well as the benefits of online internships. “I was exposed to a multitude of issues in the Kenyan health care system and how third-world countries are trying to utilize their limited resources,” Meghana wrote.
“This internship was honestly one of the greatest opportunities I had been given,” she concluded.
Gretta Marston-Lari was born in Peru and came to the United States with her parents as a young teen. A Latin American studies and theater major at Macalester College, Gretta returned to Peru with SIT on a program focused on indigenous communities and globalization.
Semester in Peru inspires musical
I felt that I was finally learning what I had been longing to learn in all of my college courses.
“I felt that I was finally learning what I had been longing to learn in all of my college courses. … The study abroad experience fed my soul in a way that was really needed and that I had been waiting for since I left Peru at age 14.”
As her final project, Gretta wrote a musical, Como la Tierra (“Like the Earth”) that tells the story of an indigenous community’s struggle to block a copper mine. “We had been learning a lot about how indigenous bodies of knowledge exist in an oral tradition. To me, theater in a large way is an exchange of knowledge, and it’s oral. I thought this was the best way I could connect to what was happening and to contribute to further their struggle,” she told us.
During an exceptionally challenging year, Danielle Purvis earned her MA from SIT in Climate Change & Global Sustainability, a one-year global program that includes a semester each in Iceland and Zanzibar.
‘The ways of this world must change‘
… we get to be on the front lines of building new bridges and creating a new way of life.
“On top of the typical challenges of a graduate degree, the Class of 2021 completed their degrees entirely or almost entirely during a global pandemic. My cohort, for instance, experienced a lock down, then an evacuation, and then a lock down and an evacuation,” Danielle told her graduating class during a moving speech at her commencement in August.
“I am completing this experience with a blend of gratitude for the resources available to me and a commitment to see these bountiful resources distributed as equitably as possible. I am completing this experience with a global lens of how we are inextricably connected to each other and to our natural environment. And I know, more than ever before, that the ways of this world are unsustainable and must change, and that we get to be on the front lines of building new bridges and creating a new way of life,” she said.
“We get to be on the front lines of building new bridges and creating a new way of life.”
Following is a transcript of the commencement speech by student speaker Danielle Purvis on August 21, 2021. Dani graduated with an MA in Climate Change and Global Sustainability.
Being asked to be a commencement speaker is a great honor. But I have the unique opportunity to make meaning out of one of the most bizarre and intense experiences of my life, and I’m guessing for those of you who are getting a few more letters behind your name today or celebrating your accomplishments from August 2020, this has been a bizarre and intense experience for you too.
I think the formula of a commencement speech includes some focus on the future, a call to action or an inspirational speech about stepping into the world. But since most people have been fixated on the future since March 2020, and many of us entering the job market are totally fixated on our near futures, I thought it would be nice to reflect on the past year.
It requires true commitment and grit to complete a master’s degree, and many of us chose global graduate programs that also involve full immersions into new communities and cultures with new languages and new challenges. The rest of us chose hybrid programs that required us to fit graduate school into our busy lives while we continued working our jobs and taking care of our families.
On top of the typical challenges of a graduate degree, the Class of 2021 completed their degrees entirely or almost entirely during a global pandemic. My cohort, for instance, experienced a lock down, then an evacuation, and then a lock down and an evacuation. We spent half of our field methods courses quarantined in our rooms, looking at the field on Google Earth. For the class of 2020, you finished what is arguably the most intense and rigorous portion of your master’s degrees while the world was shutting down and life as we know it completely stopped. You kept going.
Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have completed this degree during a global pandemic, but now I’m really appreciative of the unique perspectives the experience has given me. In my first master’s program in public health, I remember sitting in lecture halls in the US talking about case studies of other countries whose healthcare systems collapsed, how crises could sow distrust and mixed messaging, how natural disasters could destroy any progress a country made toward rebuilding infrastructure or providing life-saving services.
I’ve learned more from spending this year in other countries, seeing firsthand how a country must make hard decisions to close their borders to protect the health of their people or to keep their borders open to sustain their economies and keep their people fed, how a country’s limited resources can be stretched even more thinly during crises, and how easily systems fail, especially for countries that were already struggling.
Yet, I’ve learned more from spending this year in other countries, seeing firsthand how a country must make hard decisions to close their borders to protect the health of their people or to keep their borders open to sustain their economies and keep their people fed, how a country’s limited resources can be stretched even more thinly during crises, and how easily systems fail, especially for countries that were already struggling.
I have also experienced many beautiful personal and shared moments in this year. I got to see Iceland without tourists, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In 2020, we had the largest global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since World War II. In spite of our challenges and limitations, we’ve prevailed, just as much of the world does, with flexibility, creative solutions, community building, and hope.
I am completing this experience with a blend of gratitude for the resources available to me and a commitment to see these bountiful resources distributed as equitably as possible. I am completing this experience with a global lens of how we are inextricably connected to each other and to our natural environment. And I know, more than ever before, that the ways of this world are unsustainable and must change, and that we get to be on the front lines of building new bridges and creating a new way of life. If you are ever daunted by this challenge, I hope you will be motivated and inspired by your classmates, your mentors, and most importantly, yourself.
I am completing this experience with a global lens of how we are inextricably connected to each other and to our natural environment.
Our accomplishments are, in part, a credit to our incredible family members, friends, and support networks that stayed behind and held down our forts, like my fiancé tuning in from Georgia right now. Or those who stayed by our sides when we needed it the most, like my parents who have spent the majority of their vacation in Vermont making me food and entertaining themselves while I worked. Many of us put some part of our lives aside to complete our degrees, and our most gracious and loving support networks took care of those parts of our lives. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Maybe some of you need a new goal to work toward and are invigorated by a future of possibilities. Maybe some of you prefer to reflect on the accomplishments of your past. But every graduate at this commencement – and everyone who’s been by our sides – should appreciate this moment right now and celebrate our incredible achievements. It’s a real honor to celebrate with you today, and I know we will accomplish great things in the future!
Thank you.
Meet our Global and Low-Residency program chairs to find the MA that’s right for you
This new SIT webinar series presents a great opportunity to learn about SIT’s Global and Low-Residency master’s degree programs.
Global Programs Webinar: Wednesday, January 8 – 9 a.m. (Eastern U.S.) with Dr. Joe Lanning (MA in Development Practice) and Dr. Richard Walz (MA in Climate Change & Global Sustainability)
Low-Residency Programs Webinar: Friday, January 17 – 12 p.m. (Eastern U.S.) with Dr. Bruce Dayton (MA in Peace and Justice Leadership) and Dr. Udi Butler (MA in Sustainable Development)
Global Programs Webinar: Tuesday, January 21 – 12 p.m. (Eastern U.S.) with Dr. Bruce Dayton (MA in Diplomacy & International Relations) and Dr. Sora Friedman (MA in International Education)
Low-Residency Programs Webinar: Wednesday, January 22 – 4 p.m. (Eastern U.S. ) with Dr. Leslie Turpin (MA in TESOL) and Dr. Sora Friedman (MA in International Education)
Global Programs Webinar: Monday, January 27 – 9 a.m. (Eastern U.S.) with Dr. Steve Wandiga & Dr. Azim Khan (MA in Global Health, Administration & Management) and Dr. Bayan Abdulhaq (MA in Humanitarian Assistance & Crisis Management)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BRATTLEBORO, Vermont – An SIT summer program in Iceland is set to become one of the first U.S. study abroad programs to fully offset carbon emissions resulting from air and ground travel that contribute to the climate crisis.
Michelle Stewart, academic director of the first summer track of SIT Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics, and Guðmundur Sigurðarson, a lecturer on the program, worked with local officials to devise a plan to plant about 220 trees in a community forest around the northern Iceland city of Akureyri, where the SIT program is based for part of the summer.
The trees will eventually absorb enough carbon to offset the effects of SIT faculty and staff and 20 U.S. students who traveled to and around Iceland in June and July to examine hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, and solar power.
“Carbon capture is not always thought of as being one of the important parts of the puzzle. But reclamation and reforestation are really important,” said Stewart, who has a PhD in human-environment geography from the University of Colorado-Boulder. “Iceland was once about 25 percent forested and now is only about 2 percent forest cover, so reforestation is seen as a way to reach a carbon neutral future.”
“I feel lucky to have been a part of this program that is so conscious of its own impact, and very excited that trees will be planted in our name through SIT to offset our trip’s carbon footprint,” said Nash Keyes, an applied mathematics major at Yale.
SIT President Dr. Sophia Howlett said climate recovery is a critical global issue at the top of SIT’s academic agenda. “This must be on the minds of all of us who support and promote experiential international education. Achieving carbon neutrality on this program is a powerful first step. Not only are we directly reducing SIT’s carbon footprint, we are helping future leaders develop the scope, knowledge, and wherewithal they will need to surmount this challenge,” said Howlett.
Sigurðarson, who is trained as an engineer, works with an organization that coordinates green energy projects for Akureyri, a city that has been proactive in addressing the climate crisis. Akureyri has hydroelectric power, a composting plant and a system to convert methane to fuel its municipal buses.
Sigurðarson helped arrange meetings with local officials and the forestry bureau to explore how the SIT program could capture the carbon it produced. As a result, SIT will sponsor the planting of 220 trees this month in what local residents call the “Flight Forest” near their city. Although it will take 60 to 70 years for the trees to capture the emissions produced by the program, Stewart and Sigurðarson anticipate the investment will pay immediate dividends in how the students approach climate change from now on.
“When talking to students, they realize that they have this task ahead. They know that they have to get involved somehow and they have to understand it,” Sigurðarson said.
That was the case for Keyes. “My experience in Iceland and our opportunity to mitigate our carbon footprint made me much more educated about and conscious of my energy use, both in Iceland and at home,” they said. “Back in the US now … I am thinking much more carefully about my energy use and where my energy comes from.”
Iceland puts students in an environment where climate change is not debated, Stewart said. There, “it’s a reality, and the question is ‘how are we going to do this?’ It makes them part of the solution,” she noted.
For Keyes, the way SIT approached the carbon offset question was also important. “In too many study abroad and service trips, foreign groups, especially American ones, come into a country or region without a lot of respect for local culture, society, and autonomy, and act as if they know better. This direct local engagement felt very fitting as a way to counteract that trend through contributing to a preexisting, Icelander-led program.”
Leave no trace. It’s what we’re taught when we go into the wilderness. Increasingly, that advice is being applied to how we live our lives on this planet, including how we travel. Now, a group of 20 SIT Study Abroad students looks forward to achieving that goal. Their 2019 summer program, the first track of SIT Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics is set to become one of the first in the energy-hungry U.S. study abroad market to achieve carbon neutrality.
SIT Academic Director Michelle Stewart and lecturer Guðmundur Sigurðarson worked with local officials in the green-energy city of Akureyri to devise a way for SIT to offset the environmental impact of students’ air and ground travel. Together, they developed a plan to plant about 220 trees in the greenbelt, or “green scarf,” that surrounds the city of about 19,000 in northern Iceland.
Students on the program examine hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, and solar power in the context of geographic, social, political, economic, and environmental impacts. “Carbon capture is not always thought of as being one of the important parts of the puzzle. But reclamation and reforestation are really important, especially in Iceland’s context,” said Stewart, who has a PhD in human-environment geography from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
“Iceland was once about 25 percent forested and now is only about two percent forest cover, so reforestation is recognized by Iceland to be an important way to achieve its Paris Agreement goals and a carbon neutral future.” she added.
Nash Keyes, an applied mathematics major at Yale who was on Stewart’s program, wrote in an email, “I feel lucky to have been a part of this program that is so conscious of its own impact, and very excited that trees will be planted in our name through SIT to offset our trip’s carbon footprint.”
- Read more from Nash Keyes about their program experience.
Since flight is an area where clean energy alternatives are not really a possibility yet, I am very happy we took action to mitigate its harm.
The carbon neutral plan began to take shape when Stewart recruited Sigurðarson as a lecturer for the program. Trained as an engineer, he works with Vistorka, an organization that coordinates green energy projects for the city, which boasts methane-fired public transportation, composting plants, biodiesel production and much more.
Sigurðarson coordinated student discussions with local officials involved in Akureyri’s energy programs, including the mayor, the chair of city council, the rector of the University of Akureyri, and the national energy company. He also reached out to the forestry bureau to explore how the SIT program could capture the carbon it produced when students flew from the US to Iceland and traveled around the country by bus.
Although Akureyri – a member of the Paris Agreement’s Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy – has made big strides toward net-zero energy with geothermal heating and hydropower for electricity, the city was stuck on how to get rid of fossil fuels resulting from air travel, Sigurðarson said. “We came up with a program last year for companies operating in Akureyri to plant one tree per domestic flight, and we assigned a special area in the outskirts of Akureyri that we’re calling the Flight Forest.”
We came up with a program last year for companies operating in Akureyri to plant one tree per domestic flight, and we assigned a special area in the outskirts of Akureyri that we’re calling the Flight Forest.
It will take up to 70 years for the 220 trees that SIT sponsors in the Flight Forest to capture the emissions produced by the program. But Stewart and Sigurðarson both anticipate the investment will pay dividends sooner than that in how the students approach climate change from now on.
“My experience in Iceland and our opportunity to mitigate our carbon footprint made me much more educated about and conscious of my energy use, both in Iceland and at home,” Nash wrote. “While in Iceland, I felt that if all the energy I’m using is coming from plentiful, non-polluting renewable sources, I didn’t need to make as big an effort to limit my consumption. Back in the US now, however, I am thinking much more carefully about my energy use and where my energy comes from,” they said.
… students are in a context where climate change is not debated, it’s a reality, and the question is ‘how are we going to do this?’ It makes them part of the solution.”
Stewart said unlike the U.S., where climate change is still questioned and can be a contentious issue, Iceland is proactively addressing the problem. “Iceland just passed a tax on putting waste in a landfill and they’re putting a price on carbon. So here, students are in a context where climate change is not debated, it’s a reality, and the question is ‘how are we going to do this?’ It makes them part of the solution.”
Sigurðarson says his work brings him into contact with students of all ages, as well as adults. “The difference is, when talking to students they realize that they have this task ahead. They know that they have to get involved somehow and they have to understand it.”
Jessica Li, a sophomore at Yale, said, “It is so meaningful to know that our trip is carbon neutral as I, and I’m sure everyone else, was concerned about the conflict of learning to care for the environment while also contributing to its damage. … Since flight is an area where clean energy alternatives are not really a possibility yet, I am very happy we took action to mitigate its harm.”
Nash said they appreciated not only how planting trees was connected to the program theme, but also that the effort was part of a plan that Icelanders had already put in place.
“In too many study abroad and service trips, foreign groups, especially American ones, come into a country or region without a lot of respect for local culture, society, and autonomy, and act as if they know better,” Nash wrote. “This direct local engagement felt very fitting as a way to counteract that trend through contributing to a preexisting, Icelander-led program.”
In too many study abroad and service trips, foreign groups, especially American ones, come into a country or region without a lot of respect for local culture, society, and autonomy, and act as if they know better.
“From what I could see, my SIT program facilitated a respectful and non-exploitative interaction with Iceland, its resources, and its people, and in that way alone created a program that minimized our impact on the country,” Nash added.
While Stewart emphasizes that her program’s efforts were a successful way to achieve carbon neutrality in Iceland at this time, she doesn’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach for all SIT programs. “SIT must work closely with our global partners to identify the most effective and meaningful ways to reduce the carbon impacts of our programs. Our methods should be diverse and contextually relevant.”
By Nash Keyes
Editors note: Nash Keyes studied abroad this summer on the first track of SIT Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics, which is set to become the first SIT Study Abroad program to achieve carbon neutrality by planting 220 trees in the “green scarf” region around the city of Akureyri.
Educational institutions all have a duty to actively mitigate their impacts on climate and the world in general, and SIT is no different. It makes a lot of sense that our program — which focused on climate and renewable energy, — was SIT’s first program to be carbon neutral. SIT should continue to set this kind of example through all of its programs. I feel lucky to have been a part of this program that is so conscious of its own impact, and very excited that trees will be planted in our name through SIT to offset our trip’s carbon footprint.
The issue of minimizing negative impact of trips is very important, both for study abroad and for service and educational travel in general, and I’m glad that SIT is thinking about this. From what I could see, my SIT program facilitated a respectful and non-exploitative interaction with Iceland, its resources, and its people, and in that way alone created a program that minimized our impact on the country.
… my SIT program facilitated a respectful and non-exploitative interaction with Iceland, its resources, and its people, and in that way alone created a program that minimized our impact on the country.
The method of tree-planting in Akureyri’s “green scarf” to offset our program’s carbon footprint was satisfyingly connected to what we learned about in our program, and was also uniquely local and a contribution to a program that Icelanders had already put in place.
In too many study abroad and service trips, foreign groups, especially American ones, come into a country or region without a lot of respect for local culture, society, and autonomy, and act as if they know better. This direct local engagement felt very fitting as a way to counteract that trend through contributing to a pre-existing, Icelander-led program. This felt especially significant, given that SIT is U.S.-based, since the U.S. and Britain have a history of somewhat forced occupation of the naval base at Keflavik, and since the U.S. has had such an impact on Iceland’s language, culture, and economy. It seems like a good baseline for SIT, as a U.S.-based and affiliated institution, to mitigate its Iceland-related carbon footprint in a way that directly benefits and is led by the people who gave us so much in Iceland.
Iceland hasn’t experienced racialized colonialism and exploitation in the same way that many other countries have, so I didn’t come into the program thinking about my experience there in terms of power dynamics and politics in the way I might have elsewhere. But in thinking about it more carefully, I see carbon footprint mitigation through local projects as one way to work toward more equitable relationships between U.S. groups and other people and landscapes of other countries.
… I see carbon footprint mitigation through local projects as one way to work toward more equitable relationships between U.S. groups and other people and landscapes of other countries.
My experience in Iceland and our opportunity to mitigate our carbon footprint also made me much more educated about and conscious of my energy use, both in Iceland and at home. While in Iceland, I felt that if all the energy I’m using is coming from plentiful, non-polluting renewable sources, I didn’t need to make as big an effort to limit my consumption. Back in the U.S. now, however, I am thinking much more carefully about my energy use and where my energy comes from, especially as I am preparing to move into my first actual apartment where I am directly paying utility bills. I am thinking about measures I can take to minimize the carbon footprint of my apartment this coming year, including buying as much electricity as possible from suppliers who use renewable sources in a much more conscious and educated way than I would have before my study abroad experience in Iceland.
Back in the U.S. now … I am thinking much more carefully about my energy use and where my energy comes from …
I understand much better the complexity of the electricity grid and the way power and heat are generated in general, and have a better perspective on how far behind the U.S. really is in terms of renewable energy.
I feel lucky to have been a part of this program that expanded my knowledge base in an engaging, experiential way while minimizing its own contribution to the problems it aims to help us solve. The program gave me a very valuable perspective on energy, society, and environment that I will carry forward through the rest of my life.
Nash Keyes majors in applied mathematics at Yale University’s Pauli Murray College. They expect to graduate in 2021.
By Katie Grieze
This story was originally published on the Butler University Newsroom website. It is reprinted here with permission.
Grace Hart stared out at the white ice. She couldn’t see where it ended, but she noticed a blue tinge marking the Icelandic glacier’s age. It had lived a long life.
According to the guide who’d just led Hart’s hike to the top of the slope, that would probably change within the next 200 years.
I want you all to spend a minute taking in your surroundings, the guide said before leading the group back down the trail. Think about where you are right now. Because this glacier changes every single day, and someday it’s going to be gone.
Living in the Midwest, Hart had only ever heard news stories of the ice caps melting. Now, as part of her study abroad trip in spring 2019, she was seeing it happen live.
Think about where you are right now. Because this glacier changes every single day, and someday it’s going to be gone.
The guide broke the silence.
Remember this feeling, he said. When you’re trying to explain to someone why it’s important to slow down climate change, remember this.
Hart knows she will.
During the semester-long program through the School for International Training (SIT), the rising Butler University senior traveled around Greenland and Iceland to study topics related to climate change: what’s happening, how it affects people, and what we can do to help. She’d first read about the trip as a freshman Environmental Studies major. She had always wanted to go to Iceland, and the topic was right in line with her interests.
Hart says her choice to study climate change started with “a love of nature and a sadness that people were trying to destroy it.” Butler taught her about the real consequences climate change has already caused, even in Indianapolis.
It’s a different conversation than happens in the U.S., where we have a long way to go.
“Seeing that in my own community cemented my goals of advocating for the environment and those who have been negatively affected by the irresponsible actions of people who are careless with the earth’s resources,” Hart says.
Through almost-daily discussions about climate change in her environmental studies classes, Hart sometimes loses hope that things will get better. She believed visiting Iceland and Greenland would break that cycle and give her the skills to do something.
“I thought it would be really cool to learn about climate change from a place that is typically seen as very sustainable and environmentally friendly,” Hart says. “It’s a different conversation than happens in the U.S., where we have a long way to go.”
Calie Florek, Study Abroad Advisor at Butler, says SIT offers some of her favorite study abroad opportunities. Hart was the first Butler student to go to Iceland with SIT, but all the organization’s programs emphasize engaging with local communities. Through experiences such as internships, research projects, and home stays, SIT students really dive into a culture and learn about its people in ways not all study abroad programs offer.
… you shouldn’t make decisions about the land without asking the people who’ve been working with it for centuries.
When Hart first came to see Florek, she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She’d had a challenging fall semester during junior year, and she decided to apply to the Iceland program in hopes of shaking things up. Committing to a three-and-a-half-month trip with a group of strangers scared her, but she looked forward to feeling independent.
The trip began in February, just missing the time of year when the sun never rises. They started in Reykjavík, Iceland, studying climate modeling and glaciology before heading to Nuuk, Greenland. For two weeks, the group learned about the country’s culture. Hart studied how climate research often excludes native people, and she loved learning the value of including diverse voices in those conversations. She says you shouldn’t make decisions about the land without asking the people who’ve been working with it for centuries.
There was also time for some fun. During a brief stay in Akureyri, Iceland (where Hart would return for the final part of her program), she traveled far enough north to see the arctic circle. She loved Akureyri for its beautiful location, deep in a fjord with mountains all around. Actual trees grow there, too, which can be hard to find in Iceland.
But Hart’s favorite thing was the endless light. At sunset, the sky turned orange and pink, then it just stayed that way for hours.
“At a certain point, I think I kind of got used to the fact that it was so pretty,” Hart says. “I had to think about it again and realize how cool it was that I got to be there.”
In her free time, she swam in geothermal pools, visited art museums, tried out new restaurants, and learned how to knit a sweater. She saw waterfalls and volcanoes. She snowshoed up a mountain. She even tried her hand at some Greenlandic dishes.
For most of the semester, Hart followed a set program, but the last five weeks were up to her.
Comparing Iceland to Indy
Hart first learned about food security through her classes and internships at Butler, where she spent a semester working on the campus farm.
“I really became passionate about it because the faculty at Butler are passionate about it,” she says.
During the last five weeks of her study abroad trip, which were dedicated to independent study, she wanted to see how an issue so prominent in Indianapolis might play out in a different climate.
Mostly through secondary research, Hart found that food security in Iceland isn’t really an economic issue: It’s a land issue. People there have started demanding foods that just can’t grow in the frigid climate, forcing residents to import most of what they eat. Beyond harming the environment, Hart says, importing can make the country especially vulnerable whenever trade gets disrupted.
Her study offered some solutions. She focused mainly on changes that might shift tastes back to what the land can support, such as subsidizing and labeling local foods. She also suggests more Icelanders rent garden pots to grow their own produce. Ultimately, she says, the country should try to become self-sufficient.
For now, Hart’s research is more of a personal exploration. She wasn’t able to share it with anyone outside of the study abroad group, but she believes her study could inspire change.
Hart would like to return to Iceland and build a community outreach program, which she hopes would get Icelanders talking about their food in ways they might not have before.
SIT students Micalea Leaska and Cass Madden are studying Climate Change and Global Sustainability in order to work in fields that aren’t directly related to climate change.
They’re part of SIT’s first global MA program, which launched in fall 2018 and takes a broad approach to the subject of climate change. Taught entirely abroad, students take a range of issues-based courses and conduct hands-on fieldwork in Iceland and Tanzania, countries that provide a close look at the effects of and community responses to climate change in arctic and tropical regions.
The mix of science and issues coursework is aimed at preparing students for careers in climate change policy and advocacy. During their third semester, students do a practicum at an organization anywhere in the world that fits their career goals.
For Madden, climate change provides the context for understanding her driving passion: the issues of indigenous people worldwide. “Indigenous people tend to be disadvantaged in every way. Indigenous rights at their core are deeply tied to environmental rights. The environment is a tremendous part of how indigenous people understand the world, and land rights are central. That’s an issue that’s changing as the climate changes,” she says.
Leaska wants to work in public health. She’s more interested in challenges like water sanitation than in studying medicine, and says SIT’s Climate Change degree offered an intriguing way to approach that, in part because it’s not only about the hard science, but also about policy. “One thing that appealed to me was the openness of the degree,” she says. “It’s able to capture a lot of different interests.”
To her point, Leaska says the students in her cohort are planning to go into all range of fields, including government policy and urban planning. ”Not a single one of us is overlapping with other students’ career plans.”
Both Leaska and Madden said they chose SIT for their graduate studies because of something else they share: undergraduate experience with SIT Study Abroad. Madden, who studied with SIT Peru: Indigenous Peoples and Globalization in spring 2015, plans to return to Peru for the practicum phase of her master’s program.
In fall 2016, Leaska was part of the SIT program Tanzania-Zanzibar: Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management,whose director, Dr. Richard Walz, also chairs the climate change master’s program. That had a lot to do with her choice of SIT Graduate Institute. “Richard was an awesome advocate for students. He really tries to make sure your research is getting noticed.”
Leaska’s research involved waste management of disposable diapers and how that connects to environmental awareness among women in Zanzibar. For her MA practicum, she’ll work in Ecuador with an organization called Waterstep, researching water sanitation and public health. Waterstep helps communities that have suffered from waterborne diseases develop water purification systems. “Each system runs independently and it’s completely sustainable. Community members pay something like three dollars per month, or whatever amount works in that community.”
Leaska will look at the socioeconomic variables as well as the health impacts of communities’ developing safe water systems.
In Cusco, Peru, Madden will work with the organization ANDES, which promotes the Andean indigenous idea of “sumaq kausay,” a “holistic vision” focused on the connections between humans and the Earth. The organization is near the International Center for the Potato seedbank which, she says, worked with ANDES to help a coalition of indigenous communities bring the potato – which originated in the region – back into prominence in local agriculture via what she describes as an agricultural “park.” Madden will help create a spatial model of that park to help ANDES understand the variables which have made it a success. That model may then, she explains, help partner organizations identify sites for similar projects elsewhere, including Mexico (for corn) and Ethiopia (for coffee).
Leaska and Madden say what they’ve learned and how they’ve learned it, in terms of climate change science, policy, and research are a great fit for the careers they want.
“I feel like each of us is leaving with an incredible education,” says Leaska. The work load of grad school may seem like a lot, “but everyone is ending up with traits that are going to be extremely desirable for employers. And the SIT network [of alumni and faculty] is incredible.”
Madden echoes those sentiments. “I really liked the idea of being able to spend time abroad as a graduate student; it’s what SIT does well. This is a new model for a master’s degree, but I had faith that SIT’s many years of experience running programs abroad meant the program would be well-run and thoughtful.”
“In most grad programs,” Madden continues, “people tend to write a thesis based on going to the library and reading, or maybe doing some interviews. It’s definitely atypical in a master’s program to spend three or four months in the field doing research.”
Though she says being in the field also brings challenges, Madden sees the program as “an incredible opportunity” for students interested in sustainable development and environmental issues. “This is a great program for figuring out how an interest you have can interface with the real world. It’s driven by experience, but it’s also academically rigorous and guided by an applied approach. That’s helpful for anyone who’s looking to work in the world.”
Jill Welter received her PhD in aquatic ecology and biogeochemistry from Arizona State University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently a faculty member at St. Catherine University. Her research aims to understand how human activities that cause environmental change, including climate warming and nutrient pollution, influence freshwater food webs and nutrient cycling. This work includes the increasingly important role that nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria may play in aquatic ecosystems as a result of rising temperatures and the potential consequences for the cycling of carbon and nitrogen between land, air, and water. She has recently worked in Greenland; Svalbard, Norway; Kamchatka, Russia; and Iceland, where she collaborates with an international team of scientists and works to promote women in STEM and arctic ecology.
Courses Taught
Human-Climate Interface I: Energy and Climate Policy in Iceland
Peter Weiss has been director of the University Centre of the Westfjords and its graduate and other programs since its founding in 2005. Previously, he taught linguistics and literature at the University of Iceland’s Department of Nordic Languages and German. He also served as head of its Language Centre and director of Goethe Zentrum Reykjavík. Dr. Weiss earned a PhD in linguistics and Scandinavian languages, with a dissertation on the history of ideas and the development of linguistic thinking in Sweden in the 17th and 18th centuries, at the University of Greifswald in Germany. In additon, Dr. Weiss holds a master’s degree from the University of Kiel in Germany and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iceland.
Javier is associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and an expert in the physics of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). His research focuses on the ABL related to meteorology and various processes. His research group conducts experiments in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, linking surface processes and boundary layers in complex ecosystems to large-scale satellite remote sensing and climate models. He has a PhD in physics (2000) from the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Paris VI, France, and an engineering diploma (1991) from the School of Engineering, National Technological University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
As a political ecologist, educator and researcher, Nicolas Stahelin has worked in experiential learning, international and cross-cultural exchange, school-community partnerships, and higher education for 20 years. He has a BA in environmental studies from Oberlin College, an MA in international educational development from Columbia University, and an EdD in international and comparative education focusing on sustainability, also from Columbia. His teaching and research engage with climate change and sustainability in global and comparative perspectives at the intersection of political ecology, environmental justice, critical policy studies, and education. Nicolas is also a faculty member of SIT Graduate Institute’s MA program in Climate Change and Global Sustainability. Active on several research fronts, Nicolas has published in a number of academic journals, including the Journal of Environmental Education and Environmental Education Research. Current projects include investigations into global climate change education policy programs driven by UN organizations, and reconceptualizing how the lens of climate justice should inform critical education for sustainability curricula and program design in post-secondary international education. Nicolas is an alum (fall 2000) and former program assistant (spring 2001, 2003–2004) of an SIT Study Abroad program in Brazil. Originally of Swiss- Brazilian nationality, Nicolas lived for 20 years in Brazil and Venezuela and is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
See Dr. Stahalin’s list of publications
Narriman has a PhD in marine biology from the University of Dar es Salaam, where she is a senior lecturer at the university’s Institute of Marine Sciences. She also holds an MS in fisheries biology and management from the University of North Wales and a BS in zoology/botany/education from the University of Dar es Salaam and has researched the age, growth, reproductive biology, and fishery of Indian mackerel (rastrelliger kanagurta) in Zanzibar. She has been a program coordinator of the SIT Tanzania-Zanzibar program since its inception.
Graduate Courses Taught
Climate Change on Tropical Coasts: Social and Ecological Methods
Dr. J. Richard Walz is chair of the Climate Change and Global Sustainability MA program at SIT Graduate Institute and academic director of the SIT Study Abroad Tanzania programs. He teaches environmental social science and methodology courses that integrate field studies primarily located in eastern Africa. His research and publications emphasize contemporary and historical topics at the human-environment interface, especially how communities forge social mosaics around resources and how they perceive and utilize landscapes and seascapes in an era of environmental change. His teaching and publications incorporate community-based research and promote independent student field studies on climate, resources, and society where Africa meets the Indian Ocean. He oversees the Zanzibar office and programs or excursions to Pemba and Mafia islands in Tanzania and to Seychelles.
See Dr. Walz’s full list of publications
Graduate Courses Taught
Climate Change and Global Sustainability Capstone
Natural Resource Management in East Africa
Climate Change on Tropical Coasts: Social and Environmental Methods
Select Publications
Schmidt, P., Walz, J., Besigye, J., et al. (2024). The tapestry of human-induced and climate-driven environmental change in western Uganda. History in Africa, 51, 1-33
Walz, J. & Kwekason, A. (2022). Ceramics, copal, and coconut: results of archaeological investigations at Mlongo, Mafia Island, Tanzania, AD 250-1000. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 77(216), 67-75
Edwards, G., Gellert,… & Walz, J. (2022). Climate obstruction in the Global South: future research trajectories. PLOS Climate, 2(7): e0000241
Walz, J. & Dussubieux, L. (2022). Inland glass beads in northeast Tanzania, 8th-17th centuries CE. In L. Dussubieux & H. Walder (Eds.), The Elemental Analysis of Glass Beads: Technology, Chronology, and Exchange (265-286). Leuven University Press
Walz, J. (2021). The great guano rush of 2007-2008: ‘filth’, bats, and food sovereignty on northern Pemba Island, Tanzania. Arcadia: Explorations in Environmental History (Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität), 31, online
Walz, J. & Gooding, P. (2021). Reality and representation of eastern Africa’s past: history and archaeology redress the ‘coast-inland dichotomy’. African Studies Quarterly, 20(4), 56-85
Chami, M., Walz, J. & Sarathi, A. (2021). Community and caves in contemporary Zanzibar. Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology, 17/18, 92-99
Myers, G., Walz, J., & Jumbe, A. (2020). Trends in urban planning, climate adaptation and resilience in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Town and Regional Planning, 77, 57-70.
Douglass, K., Walz, J., Quintana-Morales, E., et al. (2019). Historical perspectives on contemporary human-environment dynamics in Southeast Africa. Conservation Biology, 33(2), 260-274
Walz, J. (2018). Inland entanglement in the Swahili World, c. AD 750-1550. In S. Wynne-Jones & A. LaViolette (Eds.), The Swahili World (388-402). Routledge
Select Presentations
Walz, J. (2024). Updating Swahili history. Roundtable contribution at conference: 67th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association. Chicago, Illinois.
Walz, J. (2023). Indian Ocean livelihoods: the blue economy initiative in Zanzibar. Presentation at forum funded by U.S. Social Science Research Council. School for International Training. Zanzibar City, Tanzania.
Walz, J. & Sharkey, R. (2021). Climate change on Zanzibar (Unguja) Island: the outcomes, factors, and origins of an unnatural disaster. Presentation at conference: Environmental Crises in the Indian Ocean World, since 1800. Indian Ocean World Centre, McGill University. Montreal, Canada
Walz, J. (2017). Excrement in the Zanzibar Archipelago: agriculture and public health dynamics in historical perspective. Presentation at conference: 60th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association. Chicago, Illinois.
Walz, J. (2016). Rethinking the outer landscapes of the urban Swahili, c. AD 750-1550. Invited presentation: Tropical Archaeology Research Laboratory, James Cook University. Townsville, Australia.
BRATTLEBORO, Vermont – School for International Training is developing a new full-time, global master’s degree format using the institution’s centers worldwide as locations for existing degrees and new programs. This new format will complement SIT’s current online and low-residency master’s programs.
The new format will position SIT to become a leader in global graduate education. It comes at a time when students are seeking shorter, more cost-effective programs that equip them with real-world skills for a globalized market. Although enrollment at US graduate schools remains steady, growth rates are starting to dip, and students’ needs are changing. Market research shows students are balking at persistently increasing costs and looking for more nontraditional programs.
“We are in a unique position to build on the success of our study abroad programming — which continues to grow each year — to offer new kinds of graduate-level master’s degree and certificate programs,” said SIT President Dr. Sophia Howlett. “The graduate education system is continuously evolving. These changes mean that SIT can meet students where they are today.”
The expansion of SIT’s global footprint will mean a reduction in the number of positions based at SIT’s headquarters in Brattleboro, Vermont, and its center in Washington, DC, and an enhancement of positions in global centers.
“As we transition our face-to-face programs from Brattleboro and Washington, DC, to global locations, we will reduce the physical size and number of staff members at our Brattleboro campus and Washington DC center,” said Dr. Howlett. “This was a very difficult decision. But SIT is and always has been student-centered. Our focus must be on the students and how we can best position them for success in a challenging and rapidly changing world. Our new model does that. Innovation is a hallmark of SIT, and expanding our global footprint will allow us to continue innovating for years to come.”
The new global master’s degree format leverages the availability and expertise of SIT’s study abroad faculty and program centers in more than 30 countries. Pending accreditation, the first of these programs, a one-year MA in Climate Change and Global Sustainability, is expected to launch in fall 2018 with semesters taught consecutively in Iceland and Tanzania — locations where climate change policy and innovation are prominent. During the third and final semester, students will conduct their practicums at any location in the world. Other master’s degrees in social justice fields are also in development.
The Brattleboro campus will continue to serve as headquarters for SIT Graduate Institute and SIT Study Abroad, as well as for The Experiment in International Living, World Learning’s flagship program, and other World Learning administrative staff. It will also continue to house World Learning and other youth leadership programs.
“Since 2015, World Learning and the School for International Training have brought 1,250 short-term visitors from more than 25 countries to Vermont,” said Carol Jenkins, interim CEO of World Learning, Inc., the organization that oversees SIT. “These exchanges give Vermont’s business professionals, local government officials, and citizens an opportunity to build mutual understanding with people from around the globe, to learn best practices from others’ experiences, to develop constructive relations based on common interests, and to build lasting friendships.”
One in three current world leaders have participated in a US exchange program and have experienced US, and oftentimes Vermont, values and culture firsthand, Jenkins said. “We fully anticipate continuing these critical exchanges on our Vermont campus.”
SIT continues to offer a low-residency format in Brattleboro for its international education and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) master’s degrees. With this option, students come to campus for approximately two to three weeks of classes, with the remaining coursework done online or in their practicums. SIT will also continue to host the CONTACT Summer Peacebuilding Program on the Brattleboro campus.
SIT Study Abroad Programs
- Iceland: Climate Change and the Arctic
- Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics (Summer 1)
SIT Graduate Programs
SIT Study Abroad Programs
- Iceland: Climate Change and the Arctic
- Iceland: Renewable Energy, Technology, and Resource Economics (Summer 1)