Diane O'Dowd, HHMI Professor

Biology majors often find it difficult to spend a quarter studying abroad without falling behind in their coursework. We are working to improve education abroad opportunities for biology majors during summer breaks and intersessions. We focus on quality interactive learning and research opportunities for the students, and problem-based teaching training for faculty.

Go to:

Summer Study in Chile

Undergraduate Research in Chile

Intersession Study in Costa Rica

Portable PBL - A Pre-packaged Cell Biology course for Faculty

A. Summer Study in Chile:

Our pilot program in July 2007 focused on refining the curriculum to appeal to biology majors and establishing a collaborative teaching effort between UCI basic science faculty and Chilean clinical faculty to teach Human Development in a Problem Based Learning format. Click here for a summary of the goals and outcomes of the program.

The most updated study options for students can be seen on the Summer Study site.

B. Undergraduate Research in Chile:

We are encouraging a partnership with the faculty at Universidad Andres Bello that allows undergraduates at UCI to conduct a summer research project while they are taking coursework in English. In 2007 we had 8 students participate.

The lab of Dr. Guido Mora can be found here: http://www.unab.cl/fern/palabras.htm

The lab of Dr. Claudia Reidel can be found here: http://www.unab.cl/dcb/lab_bio_cel_farmacologia.asp

Some of the students and faculty in the program....

C. Intersession Study In Costa Rica:

We are partnering with Dr. Timothy Bradley to run a winter intersession course in Costa Rica.