Student Testimonials
"The most valuable lesson in this...is how I learned that a sustainable future...needs to be technologically, economically, scientifically, politically and culturally feasible....Because I am not able to specialize in engineering, biology, government, economics and sociology all at the same time, I now realize the importance of having enough specialized knowledge [and] being able to collaborate with people in different fields."
–Mai Kobayashi '06
"Tromping through the underbrush, taking notes under the shelter of a tree in a rainstorm, looking up from my measurements to see a bear wandering among the trees—this is how to learn not just about ecology, but about your place in the world. It was immediately obvious when I left the classroom and spent time in these woods that the narrow disciplines we peg ourselves to have very little application to how forests really work. I am a biology student, but in order to study how water comes into this forest, as I did for my thesis, I worked with faculty and students from the engineering, biology, geology and statistics departments at Smith."
–Alex Webster '08
