Summary
Through EAP, you can examine unique organisms, habitats,
and ecosystems while benefiting from new perspectives and approaches
in all subfields of biology. Many of today’s most pressing
biological and environmental issues—such as invasive and endangered
species, epidemic disease, biodiversity preservation, genetic engineering,
and harmful algal blooms—traverse national boundaries. Finding
solutions to these issues requires scientists with the kind of international
understanding and cross-cultural competency that are fostered by
studying abroad. Your EAP experiences will help distinguish you
in a globally competitive world.
Join the many UC biology students who will study abroad this year through EAP!
Program Options
Featured Programs
Barbados: University of the West Indies
Denmark: University of Copenhagen
Turkey: Bilkent University; Middle East Technical University
United Kingdom: University of Sussex Pre-Med Program
Special-focus Programs
Australia: Marine Biology and Terrestrial Ecology Program
Costa Rica: Tropical Biology & Conservation,
Monteverde Institute
Find the right program for you:
- Use the EAP Program Search Engine to find programs offering biology courses.
- Browse the MyEAP Course Catalog for biology courses previously taken by EAP students. Additional courses may be available and not all courses may still be offered.
- For additional course information, check the Academic Focus section found
on all the program summary pages for each country.
Related Pages: Agricultural
Sciences; Environmental
Studies/Sciences
Information for Your Major
Check your campus link below to see if your department has provided specific information about
study abroad:
EAP presents biology students with diverse opportunities to experience how different cultures view and teach science. Students can benefit from new perspectives, ecological concepts, conservation strategies, and modern biochemical research. Because EAP has a transformational impact on participating students, I believe that it is one of the most worthwhile things that students can do while at UC.
—Professor Scott Cooper
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology
UC Santa Barbara
Student Comments
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
"In a small group, we designed and executed our own experiment testing if soldier crabs had a preference toward a certain sand redox level. Going abroad not only benefited me in my professional goals, but it truly helped me to appreciate the wide spectrum of my major. When I applied to medical school, my interviewers seemed genuinely interested and impressed with my experience abroad."
—Marissa Camilon, Australia
"You’ll never experience biology in the same way. Imagine living in a 10-week episode of the Discovery Channel. Few things will ever change your perspective on life, your studies, and your own definition of challenge like Monteverde will."
—Brian Gray, Costa Rica
"I took a field class that focused on the ecology of South Africa. We stayed on a nature reserve for two weeks to study plants and animals in that specific ecosystem. EAP is a life changing experience and an investment in your future, so get a passport and study abroad!"
—Inga Wilder, South Africa
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
"I took a cell biology course that gave me my first exposure to world-class
equipment, techniques, and theories in cell biology and immunology.
After returning home, this experience was a determining factor in
my acceptance to an immunology lab and staff research associate
position in a pathology department."
—Caitlin Sorensen, Denmark
"A lot of biology majors don't think it's possible to graduate on time and study abroad. That was my impression too, but I made it happen. I am definitely glad I went and I think it was my best semester at Berkeley. I would definitely recommend it to every biology major."
—Zinta Zarins, Denmark
"I took a medicinal chemistry course and participated in an extensive research project that involved nearly every step of the drug design process, including thorough investigation and development of a biologically active compound. This is something that I could never have done at home."
—Gregory Starek, Sweden
Internships & Research
While on EAP, you can extend your education beyond the classroom through an
internship or research project focused on your specific interests.
Below are some examples. Check the main Internships,
Research, & Independent Study page for EAP's policies governing
academic credit for such activities.
Sample Internships
Internship opportunities vary term to term and placements CANNOT be guaranteed or arranged prior to arrival at your program site.
The following are past examples only and do not indicate future availability.
- The West African Primate Conservation Action at the Accra Zoo. Duties focused on public education and awareness of biological conservation projects undertaken by the zoo. (Ghana)
Sample Research or Independent Study Projects
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Demographic and diet analyses of the toadfish (Tetractenos hamiltoni)
in temperate and tropical mangrove systems. Research focused on
resource and habitat utilization of toadfish between and within
estuary systems in Moreton Bay. (Australia)
- Antibiotic levels in sponges as predictors of antibiotic resistance
in pathogens. Research focused on whether leakage of antibiotics
from fish farms impacts the natural production of antibiotics
in Bread Crumb (Halichondria panacea) and Red Encrusting (Ophlitaspongia
pennata) sponges. (Canada)
- Distribution in the Monteverde region of Chagas’ bug (Triatoma
dimidiata) and the associated protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, which
spends part of its life cycle in the digestive tract of Chagas’
bug and is responsible for Chagas’ disease (trypanosomiasis).
(Costa Rica)
- The parturition (birth) process in goats. This project included
working with a veterinarian and observing pre-birth behavior,
giving birth, and after-birth characteristics and behavior of
the newborn and mother. (Mexico)
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
- Gene expression of the apicoplast in the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Lab research focused on general apicoplast gene expression at different maturation stages of the parasite, as well as the differences between tachyzoite and bradyzoite gene expression. (France)
- Checkpoints in cell-cycle regulation of Xenopus (frogs). Research focused on the role of the gene cut5, including laboratory experiments on the effects of mutations there on the cell’s checkpoint functions. (Japan)
- The role of Natural Killer T cells in the autoimmune disease diabetes. Research focused on levels of CDld expression in the mouse model, called NOD (non-obese diabetic), of this human disease. (Sweden)
- Molecular and cellular analysis of chemokine receptors in the plasma membrane. Research focused on the association of certain receptors (CD4 and CCR5) with lipid rafts on the membrane. These receptors play a significant role in recruitment and function of immune response cells, and are crucial components for HIV and other viral infection. (United Kingdom)
