Students enrolled in this program spend a full semester studying the environment of Australia through classroom lectures, field trips, hands-on and independent research experience, travel and involvement with organizations active in environmental protection. The program is based on the belief that students will come to a greater understanding of the environmental issues we all face when they learn about these issues in an international setting and experience them in a context distinct from that of American society. The Australia program provides a unique opportunity to study the problems of the environment and solutions to them in a natural laboratory on the other side of the planet where views and approaches to fruitful change are subject to the norms of a culture different from our own.

Each student registers for five, three-credit, social science courses. These include: Australian Environmental Issues, Sustainable Systems, Australian Alternative Agriculture, the Natural Environment of Australia, and Selected Topics in Environmental Studies.

The program is offered each spring. During their term abroad, students reside near Byron Bay, a small South Pacific beach community located in the unique subtropical region of northern New South Wales. Byron Bay is Australia's most easterly point and has long been considered a sacred place by the Aboriginal people. The land and the sea in this area are rich in ecological diversity and the local towns are known for the alternative life-styles of the population.

Topics of study include Australian society and environmental history, Aboriginal ecology, the destruction of old growth forests due to logging and cattle grazing, land degradation and salt accumulation in soils, irrigation and water resource issues, uranium mining in Kakadu National Park, coastal zone development, ocean pollution, ecological medicine, bio-diversity and the conservation of Australian native plants and wildlife, and appropriately designed architecture for hot humid and desert regions. Australian bio-dynamic and organic agriculture and the use of Permaculture applications in the sustainable use of resources in Australia are considered in detail through lectures and hands-on learning. A unique aspect of the program is the on-going participation of students in the LIU bio-intensive garden.

Travel locations during the term may vary but generally include trips to the Great Barrier Reef and tropical north Queensland World Heritage Areas, camping in national parks in the high altitude New England Tableland region, a trip to Lamington National Park and Mt. Warning, and a visit to the Outback/Red Center region of the Northern Territory or to the dry western plains of western New South Wales. Students also visit rainforests, earth-based and off-grid solar houses, nature preserves and other venues of environmental significance in the Byron area.

The 15 credit Australia program is open to students from other universities and colleges in North America and overseas and to students in all majors at LIU/Southampton. It meets 15 of the 54 credits required to complete the Environmental Studies major at Southampton or Social Science core and elective requirements for students currently enrolled in other majors. Students from other colleges and universities can generally transfer Southampton course credits back to their home institution but should clarify this with their registrar before enrolling in the Program.