Study Abroad South Africa

Spend your summer studying wildlife conservation inside one of the world’s most iconic protected areas—Kruger National Park. This faculty-led study abroad program is based at the Skukuza Science Leadership Initiative (SSLI), a modern research and training facility located within the park, where students work directly in a fully functioning conservation system alongside professional rangers, researchers, and conservation staff. Offered courses include WMGT 1323: Wildlife Conservation and Management and WMGT 1300: Wildlife Preserve Management, with program dates running from July 5 through August 8, 2027, and tentative in-country travel from August 19–30. Students will gain hands-on experience observing large mammals and predator–prey interactions, conducting fieldwork such as camera trapping, transects, and habitat assessments, and developing skills in species identification, behavioral observation, and applied conservation science. The program emphasizes real-world problem solving, including human–wildlife conflict, biodiversity measurement, and data-driven decision-making, while also examining how a large-scale preserve like Kruger is structured and managed through zoning, anti-poaching strategies, stakeholder coordination, and ecotourism. South Africa’s integrated conservation framework provides a powerful context for comparing international and U.S.-based management approaches, giving students practical, field-based experience that directly supports the Environmental Science and Technology AAS and Wildlife Management certificate pathways. This is an immersive, field-driven course designed for students who want to move beyond the classroom and gain direct experience in one of the most important conservation landscapes in the world.

For more information contact Dr. Mark A. Shepherd, Chair of Earth and Environmental Sciences. [email protected]