Advising 
Study Abroad
Study Abroad - Biology and Related Fields
Among the hundreds of students studying biology and related fields at Cornell, interest in study abroad is very strong. This year, 64 students from the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Arts and Sciences, and Human Ecology who are studying biology and related fields, as well as students in Biological and Environmental Engineering, are studying abroad in 13 countries, making up more than 10 per cent of the roughly 500 Cornell undergraduates abroad. Most students choose to go overseas for one semester, but a few go for the full academic year.
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| Geographic Scope of Programs |
Many biology students choose English-speaking countries, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom; others travel worldwide to various countries. Within Asia, biology students have participated in the Cornell-Nepal Study Program as well as university programs in China and Singapore. Within Europe, in addition to the UK, biology students have studied in Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. In Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, field study programs combining course work with anthropological and ecological research are popular.
| Program Types |
Biology Study abroad may involve academic course work and research in biology, in related fields, or elective subject areas, as well as academic nternships and community service placements. Programs often combine these elements.
| Study Abroad in the Field of Biology |
Direct enrollment in English-speaking universities affiliated with Cornell is a very popular form of study abroad. Students have studied biology with great success at the Universities of: Cambridge, Edinburgh, East Anglia, Imperial College, King's College , Nottingham, University College London, and Oxford. The University of Sussex in Brighton and the University of Lancaster offer a premed study abroad semester, and courses in medical anthropology and the history and philosophy of science are taught at University College London. Please Note: The Frank W. and Emily Wood scholarship makes partial funding available for engineering and science students. Preference is given to students admitted to the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, one of Britain’s most eminent institutions of higher learning.
Australia
Biology students have recently chosen the following universities for such courses as organisms and their life cycles, the biology of Australian flora and fauna, mammology, and marine botany and ecology:
- The University of Melbourne
- The University of New South Wales
- The University of Queensland
- The University of Sydney
| Study Abroad in Fields Related to Biology |
Examples of popular English-taught options for students looking to undertake research or to study practical applications of the field:
The Cornell-Nepal Study Program (CNSP) CNSP provides the opportunity to do a guided field study project with preliminary training in methodology and fieldwork technique, as well as Nepali language training. The course work and field research, which is taught and supervised by faculty from Tribhuvan National University, emphasizes the natural and social sciences within which students may choose biology-related research topics, such as the medicinal use of herbal plants in a particular region of Nepal, or the attitudes of people in a particular ethnic region toward the development of health care.
Website: http://www.cuabroad.cornell.edu/programchoices/search.asp?recid=298
Denmark's International Study Program
DIS in Copenhagen offers two special programs for biology majors, Medical Practice and Policy, and Biology. The DIS program also offers a summer program on Arctic Biology in cooperation with the University of Iceland.
Website: http://www.disp.dk/
The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS)
OTS in Costa Rica offers hands-on tropical biology, language instruction, research experience, and field trips. One year of collegelevel Spanish and previous study of Biology are required.
Website: http://www.ots.duke.edu/
The School for Field Studies
The School for Field Studies gives students the opportunity to participate in applied research related to natural resource management, rain forest ecology or sustainable development. Students choose among program sites located in Kenya, the British West Indies, Pacific Northwest Canada, Baja Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Atherton Tablelands near the northeast coast of Australia.
Website: http://www.fieldstudies.org/
| Study Abroad Options in Elective Fields |
Language and culture, for example Spanish language and social science or humanities courses in Spain or Latin America, in Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador or Costa Rica; Chinese language and culture courses in Beijing, Nanjing, Hong Kong or Taipei; Hebrew language and courses about the Middle East, Israel, and Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa or Beer-Sheva; Arabic language and culture courses at the American University of Cairo.
Programs like these often include special options which facilitate language learning and cultural immersion, such as intensive language training during orientation sessions, volunteer service opportunities, homestays or a Kibbutz stay in Israel. Course work outside language classes may be in English or the host country language. The Hebrew University in Jerusalem offers an English-language premed track within the Rothberg School for Overseas Students.
Cornell programs in Paris and Seville
These programs provide direct enrollment in the universities of those cities; all course work is in French or Spanish.
Specialized Study Abroad Programs
Focus on a particular area of interest, such as international business in Copenhagen, art history in Florence, or European Studies in Vienna, Strasbourg or Maastricht.
Academic Internships and Community Service
Internships are increasingly popular within study abroad as career preparation. Cornell Colleges award credit for unpaid academic internships that include formal course work, as well as pre-professional work placement. Students should consult with their college study abroad advisors to learn how their college reviews and accredits internships. Recently, students have participated in the following programs:
Swedish Practicum in Child Care & Family Studies
This program is offered jointly with the University of Göteberg, and concentrates on child care and family policies in Sweden with pre-professional placement in Swedish child care facilities.
Website: http://www.cuabroad.cornell.edu/programchoices/search.asp?recid=337
Community service
Community service oriented study abroad programs can provide exposure to the public health environment and social services in both industrial and developing countries. These programs typically offer a combination of academic course work and pre-professional fieldwork placement.
The Partnership for Service Learning with sites in Europe, Latin America and Asia is a leading community service study abroad program. Web Link: http://www.ipsl.org/ The Cornell-Nepal Study Program (CNSP) can also provide community service opportunities. One CNSP student did her field study with Australian doctors at a rural health center where she investigated women's perception of their health needs and assisted in direct patient care.
| Study Abroad Planning |
Begin information gathering through Cornell Abroad’s library, website, and information meetings, as early as second semester freshman year.
Conversation with a faculty advisor and college study abroad advisor early in the sophomore year is a good idea. Bonnie Comella in the Office of Undergraduate Biology, 216 Stimson Hall is an important resource for planning your biology curriculum. A special meeting for biology students interested in study abroad is convened early in the second semester.
For study abroad in non-English-speaking countries, students in the College of Arts and Sciences need to have studied the host country language at Cornell first, if offered; students in the other colleges are strongly encouraged to do so. All Cornell students must study the host country language throughout their semester or year of study abroad.
Because courses for the biology major take up more than half of your undergraduate degree credits, you will need to block out your course work semester-by-semester as early as possible in order to create room for a semester or full year of study abroad. Taking either biochemistry or genetics during a summer session, at Cornell or elsewhere, can help to fit study abroad into your four-year program.
Premed students should take biology, physics, chemistry, and organic chemistry here on campus in order to have those grades averaged into your GPA for the American Medical Colleges Advisory Service (AMCAS) application. Some premed students study abroad in the fall of junior year so they can take the MCAT in the spring; others study abroad in the spring and take the test in the summer. Others who study abroad decide not to apply to medical school until senior year, joining the increasing number of students who do not attend the year after graduation from Cornell. (See the Cornell Premedical Guide 1992, Cornell Career Services, University Career Center, 103 Barnes Hall.)
If you have questions, please be in touch:
CORNELL ABROAD
300 Caldwell Hall
(607) 255-6224
Office Hours: Mon, Wed, Thur, Fri. 9:00 - 4:00, Tues. 10:30 - 4:00
Walk-in advising Hours: 1:30-3:00 Daily
Email: CUAbroad@cornell.edu
Website: http://www.cuabroad.cornell.edu
College Study Abroad Advisors
Agriculture and Life Sciences
| Bonnie Shelley 140 Roberts Hall 255-2257 brs9@cornell.edu |
Christine Potter 140 Roberts Hall 255-5808 cmp58@cornell.edu CALS Study Abroad |
Arts and Sciences
Patricia Wasyliw
55 Goldwin Smith Hall
255-5004
pw36@cornell.edu
Human Ecology
Paul Fisher
172 MVR
255-1826
psf1@cornell.edu
(This page was adapted from Cornell Abroad, Preparing to Study Abroad, Biology and Related Fields: http://www.cuabroad.cornell.edu/prepare/academic.asp.)
