Global Education
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Au Sable Institute

The mission of Au Sable Institute is to integrate knowledge of the environment with biblical principles in order to promote a better understanding of God and the stewardship of His Creation. This includes persistent dedication to exemplary Christian stewardship in its planning, operations, programs and outreach.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM
The Au Sable Institute offers courses at three locations: the Great Lakes, Puget Sound on the Pacific Rim, and South Florida near the Everglades. Each program has a slightly different focus and resources and provides a supportive Christian community that comes together in learning, field work, recreation and worship. Students and faculty meet weekly in a common integrative session engaging with experts in stewardship and service learning to better understand the natural ecosystems, current environmental degradation and its causes, the ethical nature and content of environmental problems and responsible practice. For completion of specific programs of study, Au Sable awards various certificates.

The Au Sable Institute provides college and university level programs worldwide in:

  • Environmental Studies
  • Field biology
  • Stewardship ecology

Au Sable—Great Lakes
Location: the north woods country of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and surrounded on three sides by tens of thousands of acres of wild forests.
Environmental resources: numerous pristine river systems, approximately 900 lakes and ponds, 800 bogs, diverse forest ecosystems, three Great Lakes, various sand dune communities, diverse climactic and topographic features, and an abundant and diverse flora and fauna.
Areas of particular significance: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Hartwick Pines and Wilderness State Parks, Lake Skegemog Wildlife Area, Grass River Natural Area, and the Jordan, Manistee, Au Sable, and Rapid rivers.

Au Sable—Pacific Rim
Location: Pacific Rim Institute, Whidbey Island in Puget Sound midpoint between Vancouver, BC and Seattle, Washington.
Environmental resources: a rare remnant glacial outwash prairie, tidepools, coastal cliffs, Orca whales and harbor seals, flocks of feeding shorebirds, abundant green invertebrates and diverse sea plants, scores of bald eagles; diverse settings from the forest to sea, from desert to rain forest, from sea level to mountain heights.
Areas of particular significance: Olympic National Park, the Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, North Cascades National Park, and numerous marine laboratories within Puget Sound.

Au Sable—South Florida

Location: North Fort Myers, South Florida North of the Everglades.
Environmental resources: ECHO’s tropical demonstration farm and technical resource building, its fruit arboretum and six settings of the global village (tropical rain forests, sunny area, hillside farming, tropical low bands, rooftop and urban gardens, and a schoolyard.

CONNECTIONS
The Institute maintains a program of inter-collegiate collaboration with over 50 participating colleges and universities, each of which has a voice in the academic program. Au Sable also has a graduate fellowship program to serve graduate students with a program of seminars and meetings designed to keep their understanding of Christian environmental stewardship commensurate with their work toward the Ph.D. degree in various fields of study. And it provides for its students and alumni a program of internships across the globe.

COSTS
Contact the Global Education Office or Dr. Dorothy Boorse regarding cost arrangements.

  • Tuition for summer courses is charged at 1/2 the regular semester costs
  • No Gordon scholarships may be used to cover the program costs
  • Some Au Sable scholarships may be available to select students

APPLICATION
Interested students should first contact Dr. Dorothy Boorse.  May and Summer study at Au Sable should register through the Global Education Office in Jenks 426, and then go online to the Au Sable Institute to apply and enroll.

*Au Sable's Domestic Programs do not fulfill Global Understanding Core.  Students applying to Au Sable Institute International Programs must submit Petition for Global Understanding Core Credit.  Petition forms available in the Global Education Office, Jenks 426.

CONTACT
For further information please contact:
The Global Education Office
p: 978.867.4399

Dr. Dorothy Boorse
Program representative
Assistant professor of biology
p: 978.867.4382

See the Au Sable Institute homepage for further details