Join a Wildlands Studies Information Session
Virtual info sessions hosted via Zoom at 5 PM Pacific Time
July 23-General Program Overview
August 6-General Program Overview
August 20-General Program Overview
September 3-General Program Overview
September 10-General Program Overview
Experience the planet.
LEARN HOW TO HELP SAVE IT.
For forty-six years, Wildlands Studies has offered exciting and challenging field based programs in exciting international locales. Hike across mountain meadows, ford streams and camp in the forest. Swim in warm ocean waters and examine coral reefs and sea life. Experience nature in the wild.
A heartfelt tribute to our wonderful founder, Crandall Bay, 1945-2024
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“We love our wildlands. Wherever we go, we strive seriously to minimize our impact on the land. We believe that to know its beauty and feel its inner music is a human need, a need important to our hearts as well as our heritage.” —Crandall Bay
Crandall’s message to all participants, and still our mission today.
Crandall and his wife, Marcee, established Wildlands Studies in 1979 with a vision to share our remarkable planet with undergraduate students and provide a true hands–on immersive field experience.
The Wildlands T-Shirt: Connecting Us Across Continents ~
The Story Behind the Green Shirt That’s Been Everywhere!
Since 1979, Wildlands Studies has immersed students in environmental field programs across the globe. Along the way, one symbol of our shared experiences has stood out: the Wildlands Studies t-shirt. Designed by alum Jenny McCarty in 2009, the shirt has traveled with students among the peaks of the Himalayas, through the Great Barrier Reef, across the Arctic, into the Amazon, and countless other remarkable locations. There are roughly 3000 shirts in circulation worldwide!
Jenny's story is as inspiring as the places her shirts have been. Her time as a student on the Wildlands Studies Big Sur program in 2009 sparked a passion for ecology and shaped her future. Now a full-time ecologist specializing in water resources in the drying West, Jenny continues to pursue her art, and her iconic t-shirt design lives on in our programs. Where will YOU wear your Wildlands shirt?!
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"I joined the Big Sur, CA Wildlands Studies in 2009. It was a life changing experience and I gained skills there that translated into jobs later on. The skills I gained studying fish, plants, and otters helped me get jobs over the next 10 years in the UK, New Zealand, Alaska, and the American West doing similar fieldwork. I am grateful for my experience with Wildland Studies and am honored that they continue to use my shirt design so many years later. It is an expression of my passion for wildlife and wild places. Thanks WS!"
- Jenny McCarty
Six weeks in the field.
Our programs are either two or six weeks in length. You get a life changing immersion in the wild, and the balance of the academic term to travel or explore on your own.
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High impact, low cost.
Wildlands Studies field programs are affordable—at a fraction of other field and study abroad programs—and your financial aid may apply.
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Academically rigorous.
Wildlands Studies’ programs are built on 280 hours of direct instruction with academic experts. Our faculty hold either a PhD or MS, and both author and lead our field programs. The programs are dynamic too, changing to keep apace of data and relevant science.
Earn 15 credits toward your degree.
We offer a life changing experience along with the opportunity
to earn up to 15 quarter credits, conferred by the College
of the Environment at Western Washington University.
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Not all classrooms
have four walls.
Some of the best classrooms aren’t rooms at all. They’re experiences in wild lands, amid wild life, native cultures and indigenous people.
Advisors
Students
Parents
Because the environment matters.
We’re driven by a singular notion: the environment is precious, and only by immersing ourselves in it and studying it can we help protect it.
We’re helping students share in and contribute to this ideal.
