Join the field school on palm oil and sustainability in Indonesia

If you’re an undergraduate science student, then you’re invited to apply for the ‘Field school on palm oil and sustainability in Indonesia’.

The field school is particularly relevant for students in agriculture, environment, food and agribusiness, biology, and resource management. It is also suitable for students in other fields who are interested in development issues, including how business decisions and environmental management are influenced by social, cultural, economic and political factors.

This field school will interest you if you’re passionate about the global environment, are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, or troubled by palm oil.

We’ll be taking the group of 20 students to Indonesia to examine palm oil production, as a case study to explore complex issues related to agricultural land use, environmental sustainability, and community livelihoods.

About the field school

Oil palm is a controversial crop, in large part because of its association with fire and peatland devastation. In 2015, a devastating fire swept through peatland in Indonesia, burning more than 2 million hectares, and emitting an acrid haze that affected millions of people across Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.

With the Paris Agreement, which started in 2016 as an international framework for 55 countries to undertake efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is timely to examine the role of peatland as a massive carbon sink and potential time bomb. On the other hand, world demand for oil for use in food, fuel and other industrial applications is immense and escalating. Oil palm is highly productive, renewable, and provides livelihoods to local farmers – but can it be produced ethically and sustainably?

During the field school, you will practise participatory research skills through engagement with a range of stakeholders, and work in interdisciplinary groups to develop a critical yet nuanced understanding of resource management in a developing country context.

The Indonesian partners who are hosting the field school include the University of Gajah Mada and Indonesian Centre for Agricultural Land Resources Research and Development in Bogor.

When & Where:

The field school will be from 21 June to 5 July 2020.

The field school will take you to Jakarta, Bogor, Yogyakarta and Central Java. You will visit government agencies, NGOs, research institutes, oil palm, cocoa, coffee, and tea plantations, and local communities. Places of Interest include: Mount Merapi and Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta.

Who: 

The field school is open to undergraduate Faculty of Science students. It is particularly relevant for students in agriculture, environment, food and agribusiness, and resource management. It would also be suitable for students in other fields who are interested in development issues, including how business decisions and environmental management are influenced by social, cultural, economic and political factors.

The staff coordinating this trip are Professor Budiman Minasny and Associate Professor Damien Field. 

Scholarships: 

The field school is supported by the New Colombo Plan. If you are a domestic student and the field trip is credited to your degree, then you will be eligible for a $3000 scholarship. 

Enrolment options: 

• BScAgr students have the option of counting the trip towards their AFNR4001 Professional Development requirements.
• BFoodAgrib and other Science students can be credited through SCIP3002 Science International Placement Project.

How to apply:

Email budiman.minasny@sydney.edu.au for further information. Application closes 31 March 2020.