Quick Connections

When Study Abroad Becomes Study at Home

In March 2020, the 31 students participating in COLSA’s two study abroad programs in New Zealand, Ecology in Action and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Aotearoa (SAFSA), boarded planes back to the United States. They had been in the country for only a few weeks of the 15-week semester when COVID-19 upended study abroad programs across the globe, cutting short an experience that for many students is the highlight of college.

It was heartbreaking for both the students and the staff at the EcoQuest Education Foundation Te Rarangahau Taiao, COLSA’s partner and the organization responsible for the programs. But COLSA Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Kim Babbitt ’84, EcoQuest Academic Director Ria Brejaart and the rest of the EcoQuest team were determined to make sure that finishing the semester remotely would not mean the end of students’ connection to the ecologically and culturally diverse country in the farthest corner of the Pacific.

“We got to work immediately with our colleagues in New Zealand to make sure that our students would be well served,” says Babbitt. “It was a lot of work, but it was important to find a way for students to complete their semester, and I knew the EcoQuest team would put their all into the effort.”

In New Zealand, the SAFSA education team worked with their collaborators, guest speakers and hosts to quickly put together a creative line-up of live and pre-recorded sessions, special guest appearances, peer-teaching, generative exercises and even shared online meals.

The Ecology in Action students were about to begin their four-and-a-half-week field projects exploring aspects of ecology and resource management when they had to return home.

Their transition to online learning, says Brejaart, created a unique opportunity for students to delve into data sets related to their projects, analyze the findings, and refine and answer relevant research questions.

Although students missed the hands-on components of the program, says Brejaart, all found ways to flourish within the new reality, resulting in creative ideas and good insights — and a tight bond.

“Our first Zoom call was not about classes, it was staff checking up on each of us to see how we were doing both physically and emotionally,” recalls Nate Wunderlich ’21, a double major in environmental sciences and environmental engineering, and a participant in the Ecology in Action program. “With the way the staff managed the remote learning it still felt as if we were all together.”

“In the end, despite the pandemic, I fell in love with a place, gained a new perspective and found a new family,” says Carol Blum ’20, a sustainable agriculture and food systems major and participant in the SAFSA program.

Both programs culminated with celebratory end-of-semester virtual events that brought each team together to reflect on all they accomplished.

“It was a moving tribute to what people can make happen in extraordinary circumstances when given the space to act and to step up,” says Brejaart. “I am proud to be part of our amazing team at EcoQuest, and I speak for all of us when I say that it remains a joy and a privilege to work with our students, whose motivation, enthusiasm and ability to apply themselves is inspiring.”