Australia/New Zealand Term Abroad

Union and Hobart/William Smith
Partnership for Global education

Australia/New Zealand
Term Abroad

Photo: Crimson Rosella, Lamington
By: Kevin Mitchell (mitchell@hws.edu)

Last Update: April 2003

Follow this link for the 2003 program

In 2002, this term abroad included a total of 36 students from Union College and Hobart/William Smith. The academic focus was on the biological communities and geological evolution of eastern Australia and New Zealand. The term started in late August in NY and concluded in mid December in NZ. Students werein a homestay while studying at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia. Here is the 2002 lineup.

1.5 Weeks at Union
10.5 Weeks in Australia with multi-day field excursions to:
     a) Lamington National Park,
     b) Moreton Bay Research Station, North Stradbroke Island,
     c) Heron Island Research Station, Southern Great Barrier Reef,
     d) Saddler Springs Cattle Station
1.5 Weeks to travel in either Australia or New Zealand
2 weeks in New Zealand (field excursion)

Important Links for 2002:

Daily Australia Schedule for Sept to Nov 2002
Specific Daily activities and lectures at UQ
Daily New Zealand Schedule for Dec 2002
Suggested Outdoor gear etc.
Survival Guide for term
Calendar for the entire term (PDF)
Photo bank from 2002 trip (ongoing)

For the term, you will be required to take four courses:

Marine Biology (Dr. Ian R. Tibbetts, Centre for Marine Studies, U. Queensland: i.tibbetts@mailbox.uq.edu.au )
Terrestrial Ecology (Prof. Tobiessen, Union College and Dr. Mike Pool, Centre for Marine Studies, U. Queensland: mpole@marine.uq.edu.au)
Geology of Australia and New Zealand (Dr. Mike Pool and Prof. John I. Garver, Union College)
Australian and New Zealand Culture (Dr. David Carter, U. Queensland)

In Australia, we will be at the Centre for Marine Studies at the
University of Queensland (St Lucia campus) in Brisbane

During the stay in Australia we have four, one-week field trips:

Moreton Bay Research Station, North Stradbrooke Island: Marine and terrestrial ecology (This is what you'll do)
Heron Island Research Station: Souther Great Barrier Reef (Capricorn-Bunker Group of islands): Snorkeling and SCUBA diving (if certified) (Last year they went to Lady Elliot, which is similar)
Lamington National Forest: A subtropical rain forest (This is what you'll do)
Saddler Springs Cattle Station: A 30,000 acre ranch in the Australian bush with 700 cattle and many more wild kangaroos and wallabies. (This is what you'll do)

In New Zealand we will be on a continuous two-week field trip:

Volcanoes of the North Island
Active fault zones in Wellington
Thermal springs and unusual flora and fauna near Rotorua
The Southern Alps and the Alpine fault zone
See the daily schedule and web links here

Requirements: Sign up for Union in the Winter term. At HWS signup is in the Fall
Science majors will be favored, and prerequisites include either:
1) Any Intro Biology
2) Any Intro Geology

The PREVIOUS HWS/Union term abroad (Fall 2001) is here.
An excellent collections of PHOTOGRAPHS from the Last trip.

For more information at Union College, see or email:
Prof. Tobiessen (Biology Department), S 204
Prof. Garver (Geology Department), Olin 317

This document can be located from http://idol.union.edu/~garverj/australia/info © Geology Department, Union College, Schenectady N.Y. 12308-3107. All rights reserved. No part of the document can be copied and/or redistributed, electronically or otherwise, without written permission from: J.I. Garver, Geology Department, Union College, Schenectady NY, 12308-2311, USA.

Partnership for Global education is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.