Global Study

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Consider your culture: MNR students learn to reflect on social norms in environmental decision-making , article
How culturally competent are you? Recognizing the importance of cultural context in sustainability issues, the Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability (CLiGS) administers a standardized cultural competence assessment to all graduate students in degree programs to help them recognize and improve blind spots.
Date: Aug 24, 2021
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Climate change solutions from the other side of the world: Neil Dampier to lead a Global Study to South Africa , article
CLiGS faculty and OMNR alum Neil Dampier grew up in apartheid-era South Africa. Now, he is teaching OMNR students about the connection between social inequality and natural resources disparity through the “Global Issues in Natural Resources” course, which includes a 10-Day Global Study in South Africa.
Date: May 18, 2021
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OMNR alumna gains new perspectives on international development and humanitarian relief work , article
Understanding global natural resources is a key component of successful international development work. Online MNR alumna Caitlin Callahan shares her experience in our graduate program, including three Global Study trips.
Date: May 11, 2021
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Seeing the bigger picture: urban planner and OMNR alum Marshall Distel on social sustainability of cities , article
“The MNR program helped me see that my role in sustainability is about way more than transportation,” says Marshall Distel, an Online MNR alum and Transportation Planner at the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission in the greater Burlington, Vermont region. “I learned to see the bigger picture. Communities can shape streets, but streets can also shape communities.”
Date: Apr 06, 2021
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Climate resilience of island nations and coastal cities: Cuba, Iceland, Amsterdam, Venice , article
If your dreams of island getaways or beach vacations immediately bring up concerns about rising sea levels and sinking cities, you are not alone! Different countries around the world are developing adaptation approaches to survive and thrive in the Anthropocene, and we have designed Global Study experiences for our sustainability students to explore some of these approaches first-hand in locations as geographically, economically, and culturally diverse as Iceland, Cuba, Venice, and Amsterdam.
Date: Dec 15, 2020
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Global Study, Part 3: How Egypt Changed My Sustainability Perspective , article
In November 2019, Executive Master of Natural Resources Jerry Headley traveled to Egypt with his XMNR cohort to take an in-depth look at environmental sustainability issues in the Cairo and greater Nile River Valley regions. Egypt is an especially relevant country to study as it faces many sustainability challenges, including: overpopulation of urban areas, water scarcity, pollution, and an underdeveloped infrastructure, just to name a few. Students have been studying sustainability issues for months in their classrooms in Arlington, VA. Like the rest of his classmates, Jerry was excited to be in the country and attempt to couple a sense of experience with his newfound knowledge. Little did he know just how important this would prove to be.
Date: Feb 19, 2020
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Global Study Series, India, Part 2: Sustaining, developing, or just surviving? , article
During my final semester in Virginia Tech’s Online MNR program, I joined a group of students and faculty from the Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability on the Spring 2019 Global Study. Our transformative, eye-opening journey to the eastern Indian state of West Bengal began in Kolkata.The effects of planetary environmental crises are already being felt in India. Heat waves, such as the one currently impacting India, have only been increasing in frequency and intensity, leading to summer high temperatures that are growing unbearable.
Date: Sep 11, 2019
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Global Study Series, India, Part 1: Preserving East Kolkata Wetlands , article
As a student in the Online Master of Natural Resources program at the Virginia Tech Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability, Kasey Fioramonti has had a chance to witness the enormous environmental challenges affecting one of the most populous countries in the world—India. Kasey’s International Field Experience (IFE) to India in February 2019 offered her a rare opportunity to see how to recognize a community’s sustainability issues early on and address them at the grassroots level; how individuals and families are affected by pollution; and how difficult combating these issues through policy can be.
Date: Aug 13, 2019
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Understanding global issues is more important than ever , article
Global sustainability challenges affect all people on the planet and it is up to people to address pervasive issues like climate change, poverty, hunger, equitable economic development, and more. Sustainability professionals are on the forefront of that effort. To succeed, they need to understand the complexity, interconnectedness, and depth of the issues in front of them. To zero in on what different regions throughout the world are experiencing, instructors like Dr. Omchand Mahdu help students acquire the cultural and technical skill sets they need to successfully immerse themselves in these regions.
Date: Apr 23, 2020