Curriculum

Founded in 1993 by an interdisciplinary team of college professors working on environmental issues, the Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute offers a two-week program each summer for talented high school students. Institute faculty members are nationally and internationally known in biology, chemistry, geoscience, public policy, social philosophy, literature, and art.

Students conduct research aboard the HWS Scandling, a fully equipped oceanographic vessel on Seneca Lake; in streams, fields, and nature preserves; and in state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. Other local resources include the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, a world-renowned research facility at which some of the Summer Institute’s faculty members hold adjunct appointments.

Working in the field, on the water, in laboratories, in seminars, and on a four-day camping trip, students explore a variety of interrelated topics in environmental policy, economics, and ethics and come to see the natural world through the eyes of artists, historians, philosophers, policy analysts, and scientists. There is an opportunity to work closely with college professors and with students from all over the country who share an interest in the environment. While the curriculum is challenging, the atmosphere is cooperative. College credit is awarded upon successful completion of the course.

Fieldwork sessions include work in the Hanley Nature Preserve and at the Cayuga Nature Center; Seneca Lake research aboard the HWS Scandling; analysis of water in streams, lakes, and bogs; geological study of mountains and shoreline erosion and earth history; and environmental assessment and preservation of biodiversity. Other sessions include nature photography, art history, environmental literature, and discussions of public policy and environmental philosophy. Four days are spent conducting research while camping, hiking, and canoeing in the Adirondack region.

Click here to see the 2006 itinerary. This will give you an idea of the types of things you can expect to do during ESSYI 2008!

Check out what students from 2007 had to say about their experience.
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