Hobart and William Smith Colleges: Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute

The Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute at Hobart and William Smith Colleges offers a two-week, college-level interdisciplinary program for talented high-school students entering their junior and senior years, or soon to be graduates. You will conduct research with faculty members in a variety of locations.

This program is based on a one credit (4 semester hour) course that serves as an introduction to environmental studies. Research is conducted on the HWS William F. Scandling (a 65-foot vessel on Seneca Lake), in streams, quaking bogs, the Adirondack Mountains, and the Colleges' science laboratories. Working in the field, in laboratories, in classrooms, and on a four-day camping trip, you will explore a range of topics in environmental policy, economics, and ethics, and come to see the natural world through the eyes of artists, historians, philosophers, and scientists.

The program is designed as an introduction to a variety of environmental issues and perspectives on nature and our environment. ESSYI provides students with an understanding of the different perspectives and disciplines from which a person can explore the environment and environmental issues. This experience often enables ESSYI alums to make much more informed decisions about majors, minors and other interests in college.

Learn more about it on our website!