Study at IOI
Christine Q. (20) says her experience at IOI “was truly amazing, different, beautiful, informational, fun, peaceful, funny, surprising, volcanic, oceanic, and Galapagonian all at the same time. I would go back in a second!”
Monique G. (19) says IOI “makes this trip a life experience that all should have. The two weeks I spent on Isabela was definitely the most fun I’ve had anywhere in my life and I can’t wait to go back!”
IOI offers a rare opportunity to study abroad in the Galapagos. Our undergraduate program is designed in two ways: we offer short programs for winter intersession, Spring Break and Summer and full exchange semesters in the Fall and Spring.
The classes are taught by a rotating group of internationally renowned professors coming from the best universities in marine science worldwide (USA, Europe, Ecuador). The curriculum concentrates on the specific uniqueness of Isabela and the Galapagos Islands. It is a hands-on, field course-based experience with emphasis on cultural exchange and immersion in the far (wild) west of the archipelago. We take the classroom to the field. From penguins to iguanas, from sharks to tortoises, from salt marshes and beaches to volcano peeks – all hands on in areas no tourist ever gets to see!
The cap on students each semester is 15 in order to provide for a size group with an effective Professor – Student interaction.
Our short programs are 2 – 3 weeks long, worth 3 credits and the students are housed at the institute. During the full semester abroad experience students earn 15 credits (+3 optional internship credits) and live in host families for full cultural immersion. Accreditation and academic stewardship is provided via a transcript through one of the top universities in South America, the Escuela Politecnica Superior de Litoral (a polytechnic university headquartered in Guayaquil, Ecuador).
The program is designed in 5 course blocks and each course is 3 weeks long – the professors rotate, the students stay. Upon arrival in Galapagos students get an important cultural orientation to prepare for living with families in Galapagos with respect and understanding for the people and the environment. The homestay is a basic principle of IOI that gives each student and host family intensive intercultural and Spanish/English language exchange. * IOI will continue awareness training throughout the semester.
A regular day at IOI looks like this: a seminar in the morning including theoretical background material and then time for individual community service projects; fieldwork during the afternoon; and an overview discussion of the day's work before dinner. Throughout the 12 weeks on Isabela, every interning student under the mentorship of community members and IOI staff will participate in community service and conservation projects.
*Note: A homestays coordinator who keep in close contact with IOI staff will be available to council both the host families and the students.