JAN 405 - TRAVEL: Endangered Australia: Wildlife & Culture

Level:  Upper-division (400 Level)

Please note: First-year students are not permitted to travel internationally for Jan Term
Travel dates: Thursday, Jan. 2, 2024 - Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025
Course fee: $5,700

Instructor(s):  Marks, Derek
Email: dwm1@stmarys-ca.edu

The mission of this course is to survey and participate in Australian wildlife conservation efforts while developing a hands-on understanding of the relationship it shares with Aboriginal culture. This is a cultural immersion experience where we will live, explore, and work with a diverse array of Australian communities. We will volunteer at several wildlife conservation programs, ranging from grass-roots community-based, to larger non-profit wildlife sanctuaries, to University-based global outreach programs. We will also visit and explore Aboriginal cultural sites in order to gain an appreciation of and witness how the Aboriginal people are contributing to the wildlife conservation movement. Across all of these experiences, conservation professionals, park rangers, environmentalists, biologists, and Aboriginal leaders will provide us with educational and engaging opportunities about how to better understand and be more effective at conserving native Australian wildlife and culture. 

Australia is one of the most important nations on Earth for biodiversity as it is home to more animal species than any other developed country. Most of Australia’s wildlife is found nowhere else in the world, making its conservation even more important. Sadly, Australia is facing an extinction crisis. It has the planet’s worst mammal extinction rate and a high proportion of their surviving animals (over 1,700 species) are listed as endangered! Over the centuries, Indigenous Australians (Aboriginals) have suffered a similar fate as Australian wildlife. They have been mistreated and forced out of their native lands where they had lived and thrived for millennia. Currently, however, a quiet revolution is growing where Aboriginals are working to preserve their culture and the natural environment through work with conservation programs throughout the country. This symbiotic relationship is helping bring Aboriginals back to their native lands while playing a critical role in the wildlife conservation movement. 

Our journey begins in the ecologically and culturally diverse state of New South Wales where we will explore rainforests, eucalyptus forests, coastal wetlands, and beaches. A five-day volunteering experience at the Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park, a unique animal sanctuary that combines wildlife conservation with Aboriginal traditions will highlight the tour of this region. We will also experience a Dreamwalk with Djiribi Waagura Aboriginal elders in the Shoalhaven and explore the white sand beaches of Jervis Bay during this part of the trip. The second half of our journey brings us to the city of Cairns, known as “the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef” in tropical north Queensland. While there, a full-day will be spent on the Great Barrier Reef with marine biologists and Aboriginal Rangers to provide us a unique education on the status of one of the worlds’ quickly diminishing natural wonders. We will visit the Daintree Rainforest, the oldest rainforest on earth, and experience a Dreamwalk led by Aboriginal Elders. 

Our trip will conclude with three days on the tropical, rainforest-covered National Park of Fitzroy Island. This pristine island sits on the outer boundary of the Great Barrier Reef and will provide ample opportunity to experience marine wildlife both in and out of the water. We will volunteer with the Save Our Sea Turtles organization as well as the Reef Restoration Foundation on the island and will also work with their marine biologists to gather data for an ongoing marine-life research project. Other activities and opportunities during this course include ample hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, and visiting cultural sites during free time. Accommodations will include fully-equipped self-contained cabins, and some hotels. Throughout the course students should expect to participate in regular, moderate to heavy physical activity, especially during volunteer experiences.

Note: This course fulfills the Engaged Learning core requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes

• Attend at least 1 information session
• Permission of the instructor

General Travel Requirements

• Attend at least 1 Health & Safety Orientation (October)
• Submit a valid passport (November)
• Apply or renew no later than September for on-time delivery
• Submit completed & signed health forms + proof of vaccination(s) (November)

Note: Failure to complete one or more of the above requirements will result in an immediate drop from the course. Once registered, all course fees are non-refundable. 

Credits: 3-CU + 1-CU EL