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The School for Field Studies (SFS) Croatia - Sea Turtles and Marine Mammals of the Adriatic (Semester) (Outgoing Program)

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  • Locations: Veli Losinj, Croatia
  • Program Terms: Fall, Spring
  • Homepage: Click to visit
  • Program Sponsor: The School for Field Studies (SFS) 
  • Restrictions: Lehigh applicants only
Program Description:

SFS CROATIA: SEA TURTLES AND MARINE MAMMALS OF THE ADRIATIC(SEMESTER)

croatia boat

PROGRAM DETAILS

  • Terms: Fall, Spring
  • Credits: 18 semester-hour credits
  • Prerequisites: One semester of college-level ecology, biology, or environmental studies/science, 2.7 GPA, 18 years of age
  • Application Deadline: Fall: May 15th. Spring: November 15th. Early applications encouraged
  • Financial Aid: All accepted students can apply for need-based scholarships, grants, and loans

OVERVIEW

Hosting rich biodiversity, diverse habitat types and cultural heritage sites, yet exposed to numerous human uses, the Croatian coast, islands, and sea are important from a Mediterranean perspective. This region is a great “natural laboratory” for studying and tackling the two interrelated conservation challenges of this age – biodiversity loss and climate change. Through lectures, seminars, group work in the field and in the lab, study visits, and community engagement, you will learn about challenges and opportunities to reconcile marine megafauna conservation with socio-economic demands and local traditions. You will explore dolphin and turtle conservation challenges, and their linkages to small island communities, large scale tourism, coastal and open sea habitats, local and industrial-scale fisheries, and other community and economic contexts. Thus, the knowledge and experience gained here is broadly applicable to other regions and contexts.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Join the Adriatic Dolphin Project, one of the longest running dolphin research projects in the world, on the water to study bottlenose dolphin populations and conservation
  • Work alongside animal care and rehabilitation experts at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center, gaining hands-on experience with husbandry and veterinary skills
  • Visit the Brijuni National Park to learn about the challenges of balancing conservation management with growing tourism
  • Trek through ancient olive groves on the islands of Cres and Lošinj, while learning about endemic Mediterranean flora and their traditional uses
  • Conduct a comprehensive field research project: Develop a research question, collect, and analyze data, write a paper, and present your findings. 

RESEARCH THEMES

  • Cetacean and sea turtle ecology
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Marine spatial planning and regional conservation
  • Systematic conservation planning and decision making.
  • Cetaceans and sea turtles rescue procedures
  • Sea turtle rehabilitation and husbandry practices.
  • Veterinary investigations and diagnostics

CORE SKILLS

  • Biodiversity assessments
  • Population monitoring
  • Animal behavior observation
  • GIS and mapping
  • Biodiversity survey techniques
  • Tag/recapture techniques
  • Photoidentification
  • Species management planning
  • Research design and implementation
  • Quantitative/qualitative data collection and analysis,
  • Scientific writing and communication
  • Sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and husbandry techniques.

LEARN MORE

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