�� - USVI

Learn how to join a service-learning program! CALS offers service-learning programs in Uganda and the US Virgin Islands over the summer, fall, and spring semesters, in addition to spring break travel courses options.

Meet some of the program directors and compare different programs, course credits, cost, scholarships, and more!

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service-learning

Uganda

USVI

Virgin Islands

Informational Session: Exploring the Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity of the US Virgin Islands

mmgrant — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 17:51:05 +0000

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm

Location:

333 Science 2

Learn more about the Exploring the Marine and Terrestrial Biodiversity of the US Virgin Islands travel course being offered over winter break!

Course Credit: GLOBE 4960B (2 credits)

Course Instructors: Dr. Peter T. Wolter (ptwolter@iastate.edu), Dr. Gunnar Kramer (grk@iastate.edu), and Louis Hilgemann (louish@iastate.edu)

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Exploring the marine and terrestrial biodiversity of the US Virgin Islands

ISU EARTH Program- Summer 2024 Infomation Session

mmgrant — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:19:37 +0000

Tuesday, February 20, 2024 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm

Location:

160 Horticulture Hall

Learn how to spend this summer with the ISU-EARTH program on St. John! Students will explore tropical ecosystems, restore the environment, experience West-Indian culture and discover eco-challenges in the Caribbean.

Info Session will be Tuesday, Feb. 20 @ 5:30 p.m., 160 Horticulture Hall

Learn more about the program here!

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Application Deadline: EARTH Service Learning on St. John (Summer Semester)

nicolerh — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 15:01:43 +0000

Sunday, March 10, 2024 - 7:00am to 11:00pm

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EARTH Service Learning on St. John

Alternate URL:

https://isuabroad.iastate.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgramAngular&id=12116

Semester-long service learning experience in U.S. Virgin Islands

nicolerh — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 14:07:34 +0000

Alternate Url:

/blog/whitney-baxter-madelyn-ostendorf-ann-y-robinson/semester-long-service-learning-experience-us

Semester-long service learning experience in U.S. Virgin Islands

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Semester-long service learning experience in U.S. Virgin Islands

USVI

Gaining global experience to tackle hunger

nicolerh — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 17:40:14 +0000

From a young age, Stefany Naranjo knew she wanted to play an active part in the fight against hunger.

This past summer, she tackled that lofty goal through an internship in the U.S. Virgin Islands with Iowa State University’s EARTH Program.

Naranjo is a senior in global resource systems and agricultural and life sciences education at Iowa State with an option in agriculture communications.

Her internship included creating and maintaining community gardens and helping churches feed the hungry. She was also involved in a long-term National Park Service project to restore shoreline plants impacted by hurricanes. Along with helping propagate mandrakes and other hardy native species that help shelter the island’s human and wildlife inhabitants, she created lesson plans to teach island youth about the plants and their benefits.

She first became aware of serious problems with food insecurity when she was in high school in Belmond, Iowa. She started a community food drive, then she had the chance to attend the Iowa Youth Institute and later served as a group leader for the World Food Prize.

These experiences “laid the foundation for my career going forward,” says Naranjo.

Ultimately, she sees herself working in underserved communities through urban agriculture, addressing issues such as food deserts.

Naranjo was recently selected to receive an Agricultural Communications Leadership Scholarship at Iowa State, which made it possible to accept the internship on St. John’s Island. The scholarship, established by Sorrel Brown, the first woman field agronomist hired by Iowa State University Extension, provides funding so students can “choose an internship based on the quality of the experience, not the size of the paycheck.”

“This scholarship was created for outstanding, service-oriented students like Naranjo,” says Howard Tyler, assistant dean for student services in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“It has been a true joy to watch Stefany develop during her time at Iowa State,” Tyler says. “She entered our college as a first-generation transfer student in fall 2019, and despite the pandemic, the shift to remote learning and family financial challenges, she has thrived and continued to excel academically. Stefany has overcome every obstacle life has thrown at her, and is always an amazingly positive person.”

Naranjo loved her time on the island and the chance to directly impact people’s lives.

“Being there made me even more appreciative of how well things work in the United States and our easy access to basic necessities,” she says. “I’m so grateful for the Sorrel Brown scholarship and other donors and ISU faculty and staff who support students in so many ways. I wouldn’t be here without them.”

By: Ann Y. Robinson

^{Original story, https://stories.cals.iastate.edu/2021/10/gaining-global-experience-to-ta...}

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Gaining global experience to tackle hunger

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Service-learning on campus and beyond

nicolerh — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 17:21:10 +0000

Finding ways to grow local fruits and vegetables sustainably. Teaching children about agriculture, culinary science, natural resources and more. Learning to collect data to determine animal population numbers in certain locations. These are just a few examples of the many service-learning opportunities in which Iowa State University students take part at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ three satellite campuses. The activities allow students to take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it to real-world situations, all while helping others.

ISU EARTH Program, ISU-Uganda Program

The ISU EARTH Program and ISU-Uganda Program are similar in that students travel to these locations to participate in summer or semester-long programs. Faculty members also take students to these destinations for week-long trips during term breaks in the spring and fall semesters.

The ISU EARTH Program was established in 2010 in the U.S. Virgin Islands with the goal of offering Iowa State students service-learning opportunities, all while helping island residents improve their lives through sustainable agriculture practices. More than 75 students have taken part in the program since it began.

While on the island of St. John, Iowa State students assist with community engagement projects to increase their knowledge base and benefit the local area. These projects include establishing school and community gardens to supply fruits and vegetables for feeding programs; helping teachers create educational programs about agriculture, natural resources and environmental topics; and collecting food waste to compost and improve the soil structure.

“For our students to model the impact of agriculture and how it leads to better nutrition and health is inspiring for members of the community that have limited experience with agriculture,” says Shelley Taylor, director of CALS Global Programs.

In Uganda, students and faculty from Iowa State and Makerere University, Kampala, partner to create bi-national, educational, school garden programs in rural Kamuli district.

Since the program began in 2006, 147 Iowa State students have traveled to the country to team up with 168 Ugandan students to take part in service-learning opportunities. Those include developing school gardens that serve as both outdoor learning laboratories and contribute nutrition to lunches served at the schools, working with local youth to develop entrepreneurship projects as enterprises and assisting smallholder farmers with their crop and livestock farming.

“University students need to have a chance to learn about resource systems in other cultures and locations,” says Gail Nonnecke, Morrill Professor and Global Professor in Global Resource Systems. “It’s rewarding to see their personal growth and transformation as they contribute to development projects that can help to solve complex problems of our world.”

By: Whitney Baxter

^{Original story posted, https://stories.cals.iastate.edu/2021/10/service-learning-on-campus-and-...}

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Service-learning on campus and beyond

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