UTEP in Indonesia
Twelve UTEP students and two UTEP faculty, Dr. Stacey Sowards and Dr. Richard Pineda, traveled to Indonesia during June and July this summer, for a three week study abroad program, focusing on environmental and intercultural communication. Working with a local Indonesian university, the Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), the group visited the Gunung Walat Education Forest, and then the IPB campus. At the IPB campus, students met students and faculty from IPB as well as from the UTEP Department of Communication's new master's program in collaboration with Rare. Students learned about Rare's environmental campaigns from program managers, Hari Kushardanto and Sari Wirawan, and the 11 campaign managers from Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java, and Bali.
In the picture: Dr. Stacey Sowards (second from left), with UTEP students and forest rangers at Gunung Walat Forest, Indonesia.
After spending a week on the IPB campus, the UTEP group traveled to one of Rare's environmental campaign sites, in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan (on the island of Borneo). They spent three days in Tanjung Puting National Park, and then visited villages near the Lamandau Nature Reserve. A local non-governmental organization that works with Rare, Yayorin, explained how they are working to implement their environmental campaigns in this area. The group then traveled to Bali for the final three days of the program, visiting West Bali National Park, another Rare campaign site that works to protect the Balinese starling, a highly endangered bird endemic to Bali. The group met with another local non-governmental organization, Seka, that is implementing the environmental campaign.
Finally, the group stopped over in Taipei for a day tour, visiting the Chian Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the National Museum, and Taipei 101, the world's tallest building.
For more information on the new master's program in Environmental Communication, please contact Dr. Frank Perez at (915) 747-5129 or email at fperez1@utep.edu.