Participants must arrive to the program fully vaccinated against COVID-19, having reviewed our health and safety page

Program Details

Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Dates: Summer 2024: June 21–July 5, 2024
Fall 2024: September 14–October 27, 2024

Accommodations:  Primarily camping or rural lodge

Credits: Summer 2024: 5 quarter credits or 3.35 semester credits
Fall 2024: 15 quarter credits or 10 semester credits

Language: English instruction

Courses: Summer 2024: Environmental Wildlands Studies
Fall 2024: Environmental Wildlands Studies, Environmental Field Survey, Wildlands Environment and Culture

Prerequisites: One college level course in environmental studies, environmental science, ecology or similar. 18 years of age

Program Costs

Application Fee

Paid when you submit your application. Refundable until you are formally accepted into a program.

Program Fee

Your tuition for the program, paid directly to Wildlands Studies.

In-Country Logistics Fee

Covers most on-the-ground expenses such as transportation during the program, camping and lodging fees, park and nature reserve entrance fees, permits, study facilities and other related logistical costs. For some programs, this fee also covers a portion of your meals. This fee is paid directly to Wildlands Studies.

Estimated Airfare and Mandatory Travel Insurance

Airfare costs are covered by the student and vary depending on your starting location and airline ticket prices. Travel insurance is required for our programs. Details about airfare and travel insurance will be provided in the Logistics Packet.

Estimated Food and Personal Expenses

Our estimate for the out-of-pocket expenses you will incur during the program for items such as food, snacks, drinks, laundry, entry visa and personal items. This amount will vary from student to student depending on spending habits.

Bulgaria Summer 2024
$      150    Application Fee
$ 2,650   Program Fee
$ 1,000 In-Country Logistics Fee
$   1,800 Estimated Airfare and Mandatory Travel Insurance
$  400   Estimated Food and Personal Expenses

$6,000     Total Estimated Cost
Summer 2024: Program fees due by May 1, 2024

Bulgaria Fall 2024
$      150    Application Fee
$ 7,000   Program Fee
$ 4,400 In-Country Logistics Fee
$   1,300 Estimated Airfare and Mandatory Travel Insurance
$  1,000   Estimated Food and Personal Expenses

$13,850     Total Estimated Cost
Fall 2024: Program fees due by August 1, 2024

The Program

Located at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, Bulgaria is an ancient land with rich culture that has become one of the last biodiversity strongholds on the continent. Between the mysterious Balkan Mountains, the stunning Black Sea, and the productive Danube River Delta, Bulgaria provides habitat for several rare keystone species – gray wolves, brown bears, European bison, and Eurasian vultures. With a focus on Bulgaria’s ongoing re-introduction efforts of these important animals, our program will travel between different locations where students will camp, backpack, and investigate firsthand the intricacies of human-wildlife coexistence and ecosystem conservation through a lens of restoration and rewilding, land management, traditional knowledge and culture, and climate change.

We start in Pirin National Park, a section of the Balkan Mountains comprised of steep-flanked peaks and ridges soaring to almost 10,000 feet, alpine meadows, dozens of glacial lakes, waterfalls, and evergreen forests. Here, we will witness an unusual ecological refuge for hundreds of alpine and subalpine species including nearly three dozen endemic species as well as large mammals such as brown bears, jackals, gray wolves, wild boars, deer, and chamois. After extensive studies, we will make our way north to the Romanian side of the Black Sea to explore the wildness of the well-protected Danube Delta. The Danube Delta, Europe’s largest wetland area, home to an impressive collection of wildlife, provides the ideal backdrop to build our naturalist skills, explore the concept of nature-based economies and study ongoing ecological restoration initiatives.

We then travel to the Bulgarian side of the Black Sea to research bird migration throughout the region’s many beaches, coastal lakes, and woodlands. After, we move to Strandzha, the largest protected area in Bulgaria in the extreme south-eastern corner. With a rich human history, it is full of Thracian treasures and tales, where, through the powerful world of ethnobotany we will examine how strong cultural values and beliefs associated with nature are leveraged to promote environmental conservation, ecological restoration and a peaceful coexistence with wildlife. Bulgaria, like so many nations, is challenged with the complexity of aligning traditional cultures, knowledge and values with western norms, laws and perspectives. Time in Strandzha will allow our team to dive into these socio-environmental issues and discuss how these are managed in a changing world.

Finally, we return to the mountains, this time, the Rhodopes, to investigate solutions for human-predator conflict, to develop the knowledge and abilities to monitor top predators and to continue learning about the rewilding efforts around keystone species. Throughout the whole journey, students will learn research skills and have the opportunity to work with active local field researchers and support and contribute to larger conservation agendas. Please note our six-week Fall Program will undertake this full itinerary; our two-week Summer Program will investigate the Pirin Mountains as well as the Western and Eastern Rhodope Mountains

 
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More Details

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Syllabus

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Manual

 

Program Photo Gallery

Daniel Couceiro

Lead instructor

PhD Candidate in Education and Learning Sciences, Wageningen University, 2020

Daniel is a conservation biologist and ecologist focused on the connection that humans hold with the land, and how this sense of place and territory can be levered to motivate environmental stewardship. Daniel has worked in the Peruvian Amazon as the manager of the Wired Amazon Project, a citizen-science research initiative that investigates jaguar populations, Brazil nut trees phenology and discover new species of insects.  He became a National Geographic Explorer and Rufford Grantee in 2020 with the creation of a conservation education program in Colombia oriented towards the engagement of the youth of rural communities in wildlife protection. Living half the year in Bulgaria and the second half in Columbia, Daniel works as a consultant for different conservation projects. Daniel leads our Bulgaria Program.