International Sustainable Development

How Are Faculty And Students Involved?

 

2013 HNGR Symposium


Faculty Research

Dr. Laura Yoder

Human Needs and Global Resources

Dr. Laura Yoder has long been involved in sustainability activities.  She recently published Meitzner Yoder, L.S., T.C. Hartzell, J.W. Schramm, and L.R. Zinn. 2013. "Building and Boarding a Bigger Boat Together: Learning about Sustainability through Direct Encounters with Diverse People in our Watershed." Journal of Sustainability Education

Dr. Alan Seaman

Intercultural Studies

Dr. Alan Seaman has long been interested in environmental issues. His father served as a senior scientist for the U.S. Department of the Interior and was Director of Natural Resources for the U.S. Air Force specializing in ecological research in both positions. He has integrated this heritage into his own work as an educator in international contexts.  He is the senior editor for Passport to Adventure, an eight-level English as a Foreign Language textbook series used in schools throughout the world. With Sara Vroom (Education Department), he co-authored Explore, the highest level of the series, which features units on ecology and environmental issues and highlights the global work of Christian organizations such as A Rocha.

Dr. Noah Toly

Urban Studies

Dr. Noah Toly's work connects urban and global environmental politics.  He recently published "‘Risk and Responsibility in Global Environmental Governance." Christian Scholars Review.

 

 

Student Internships

A Rocha Ghana

“I participated in the Human Needs and Global Resources (HNGR) program by interning for an environmental NGO, A Rocha Ghana. Stationed in Damongo, Ghana, we worked alongside rural communities with the mission of establishing sustainable livelihoods (such as beekeeping). My internship experience impacted my perspective of poverty as something that is multi-dimensional and inherently complex. Additionally, it has taught me how essential it is to persevere in the hard work of hope as our global community pursues environmental sustainability in the midst of a worldwide ecological crisis.”

-Michael Sawyer’16

Upland Holistic Development Project (UHDP), Thailand

“For my internship I worked with UHDP in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. UHDP works primarily with the marginalized Hilltribe communities of northern Thailand and provides training in sustainable agriculture, starts up women’s groups and microloan groups, and also helps the communities in attaining proper legal documentation. My time there was spent on the model sustainable farm learning about the practices which can be taught to the Hilltribe villages. The internship was very challenging as it required I function primarily in Thai, but it was ultimately very rewarding. It gave me a valuable cross-cultural experience and experience working alongside a local NGO.”

-Nick Rubesh’16

A Rocha Peru

“I did my environmental science internship in northern Peru through Wheaton’s Human Needs and Global Resources (HNGR) program. During my six months with A Rocha Peru, a Christian conservation organization, I helped teach fourth graders and teenagers about the environment, used my GIS abilities to plan a reforestation project, and interviewed community members to find out their use and knowledge of local dry forests. The experience made me realize that my Wheaton environmental science training has not only equipped me to be a reliable and effective team member but has also given me the passion to work with environmental issues in the future.”

-Johanna Depenthal’16

Rising Village, Ghana

“I interned with a nonprofit based in the U.S. and Ghana called Rising Village. They work with local women in Ghana in order to provide vocational training and sustainable income. I traveled to Ghana, taught sewing classes, helped with product design, and spent time with the women and children in the program. It was a blessing to connect with women from another culture with thread and needles when words failed me.”

-Kelsey Powell’16