ECOLOGY PROJECT INTERNATIONAL

Through EPI's partnership with the Ecuadorian nonprofit ECOS and the Mola Mola Student Eco Club, students work side-by-side with scientists in the Galapagos National Park, learn about local youth conservation efforts, and help improve conservation efforts for the archipelago. Projects address crucial issues such as species survival and habitat improvement; students work hands-on with giant Galapagos tortoises to collect crucial data, help remove invasive plants species, aid in managing the invasive Giant African snail population, conduct microplastic surveys in Tortuga Bay, and restore critical habitat needed by native and endemic species.
Students conceive, develop, analyze, and present a field-based research project using data they collect. Visiting students also meet with local students from the Mola Mola Eco Club, who are excited to share the work they’re doing to protect their island home.

This course find students studying ecology at one of the planet's richest arrays of marine life - the Gulf of California. Students aid marine science researchers on a variety of marine species studies through reef fish censuses, marine invertebrate data collection, tropical fish identification, or sea lion observations. Participants camp on Espiritu Santo Island and participate in a coral restoration project, as well as learn from local youth eco club members about sustainable living and community education efforts in Mexico.

Our local programming for Marine Science in Baja contains many of these aspects that are included in visiting courses. Though local courses may not find these students speaking with the eco-club, this is due to many of the eco-club members already being EPI alumni who have taken an active step to engaging local youth and the community at large in conservation efforts on the peninsula.

Through our Yellowstone Ecology Program, students from Montana, across the U.S., and abroad work with local institutions like Yellowstone National Park and the U.S. Forest Service to gain first-hand experience with real-world conservation and research methods to build on the great ecological traditions in this remarkable place.
On course and under the leadership of our instructors, participants conceive, develop, analyze, and present a field-based research project. Participants meet with education specialists to discuss the conflicts caused by bison, grizzlies, and wolves leaving the park and contemplate solutions. Students aid in active conservation projects, such as pulling fence to open migratory corridors for wildlife, remove invasive plants, gather data for YNP’s bison team, and monitor amphibians in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest. Local students in our Indigenous Course Credit Recovery program also learn about and discuss balancing Native traditions and modern conservation.

Students investigate fragile ecosystems and astonishing wildlife in a country at the crossroads of environmental change and preservation. Program participants will conduct research in the Maya Mountains, explore the phenomena of the Belize Barrier Reef, and immerse themselves in traditional Belizean culture. These youth come away with a better understanding of field research techniques and the tools to help protect the ecosystem in their own community. Students spend the first half of the course at Toucan Ridge Ecology and Education Society (T.R.E.E.S.) research station, studying freshwater stream ecology and preparing for and conducting bat mist-netting surveys . In the later half of the course, participants snorkel in the Caribbean to collect data on coral reef health and conduct tropical fish population assessments to support ongoing conservation efforts. Students also participate in a cultural exchange with local Belizeans.

Students work on site at a field research station stewarded by EPI to help scientists research and protect species like howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, and jaguars. Participants study species behavior, track jaguar presence and migration corridors using camera traps, and explore the impact of climate change on this sensitive ecosystem. All lessons and activities are rooted in the NGSS standards and are designed to spark students’ passion for environmental science and conservation.

Over 70% of the staff on this site are local Costa Ricans; this site supports communities as they move away from traditional practices of turtle egg harvesting and hunting, reducing local residents’ need to move to the Central Valley of Costa Rica for employment opportunities.

Our local student courses enable Costa Rican youth to engage in these same scientific conservation opportunities as visiting student courses, leveling the playing field and inspiring environmental action in their own homeland.

The waters of Baja, Mexico are home to more than a third of the world's marine mammals, including one of the most charismatic—the grey whale. Students work with EPI instructors and marine researchers to gather important baseline data about the whales in the area and help establish a photo-ID database. Participants camp in the fishing community of Puerto Chale, and learn from local eco club members about sustainable living and community education efforts in a place balanced between the desert and the sea.

Students will also conceive, develop, and present individual research projects of their choosing at the end of every course, as finding the conservation questions most intriguing to an individual youth is crucial for long-term environmental engagement.

Life on the edge of the desert demands sustainability, and a culture of conservation has taken root in Baja. EPI’s field campus in La Paz is an ideal setting to learn about sustainable living and community education. Students will observe the fascinating intersection between desert and marine ecology and the human environment. On daily field excursions, participants contribute to both marine and terrestrial studies and witness community sustainability in action through immersive cultural experiences. They explore the desert ecosystems around the Sierra Cacachilas, observing the resilient flora and fauna that thrive in this arid region. In the Gulf, students conduct an underwater invertebrate census, and contribute to a coral reef restoration project.

Whether visiting or local students are busy collecting data alongside scientists or with a team building exercise back at camp, these programs help participants grow a deeper understanding of the scientific process and the natural world.

Science educators face a unique set of challenges in the classroom. During the past ten years, a wide body of research has shown that students learn best when they're allowed to wonder, question, and explore the world's natural phenomena. On all of EPI's Professional Development Programs, we teach progressive, inquiry-based methods that will allow teachers of all age ranges and emphases to introduce more exploration into the classroom while still meeting testing requirements. Our programs take teachers into the field, model the methods we teach, and have educators work directly with scientists and wildlife.

EPI offers a range of field-based professional development programs for educators: trainings in the NGSS, Teacher Workshops, and its flagship program, the EPI Teacher Fellowship. Participants can earn credit from the University of Hamline or the University of Montana.

Winter in Yellowstone is a dynamic and thrilling season. Students go beyond what most park visitors see by working with park researchers to collect data in the field during a time of greater solitude and differing wildlife concentrations than Yellowstone's peak season.
Students learn to use radio telemetry to track the park’s top five ungulate species, collecting herd demographics and data on sites they use, as well as learning to differentiate between sex and age of each species — data that is critical for ongoing species management. EPI collaborates directly with scientists, and participants' involvement in the research will assist in shaping the park’s management strategies. Students also spend time in Lamar Valley for a day of wolf observation, collect snowfall data, and independently conceive, develop, and present a research project. Local students in our Indigenous Course Credit Recovery program also learn about and discuss balancing Native traditions and modern conservation.