Hybrid Summer Course on Health and the Environment
Excelsior has partnered with Paul Smith’s College, located in the breathtaking Adirondack Mountains, on a 3-credit, three-week course that features a one-week immersive experience for learning outdoors, connecting with other students, and gaining practical skills.
In the course SUST 300 / SUST 500 Humans, Health and the Environment: A One Health Approach, you’ll explore the complex relationships between human, animal, and environmental health. You’ll spend week 3 of this three-week course at Paul Smith’s College. At Paul Smith’s, you’ll connect theory with nature and passion with practice through the lens of the One Health philosophy that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. The course also includes two weeks of online coursework and one week at Paul Smith’s College.
Whether you’re a future health leader, an eco-advocate, craving purpose-driven exploration, or simply a lover of nature, this course is for you. Step outside the ordinary.
About Paul Smith’s College
Known as the “College of the Adirondacks,” Paul Smith’s College is a private institution offering associate, bachelor’s, and master’s programs in areas like hospitality, culinary arts, forestry, recreation management, and ecological restoration. Students enjoy hands-on instruction in small classes lead by dedicated instructors in New York’s 6-million acre “forever wild” Adirondacks.
How to Get Started
1. Review the FAQs
Review the FAQs below.
2. Excelsior Students
Contact your academic advisor at advising@excelsior.edu to learn more or to register for this course.
3. Not an Excelsior student?
Contact Admissions and apply today.
FAQs
Undergraduate or graduate-level students who are 18 years of age or older can register for the course. Talk to your academic advisor to see how the course applies to your degree program. Non-matriculated students are also welcome to register for the course. Students who take the course must be able to attend the field experience week.
The course is the cost of a 3.0 credit course plus a $650 Experiential Learning Fee to be billed separately. This fee covers the cost of meals and housing for the 1-week residential field experience. Please note, this does not include travel to the field experience or gear you may need to purchase for the field experience. Please refer to our tuition and aid page for more information. This is a ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) course with no additional costs for course materials.
- Weeks 1-2 (July 20-August 2, 2026): Online Foundation: Asynchronous online work to introduce the One Health philosophy and the connections among human, animal, and environmental health. Students explore topics such as ecology, plant and animal health, zoonotic diseases, forest wellness, and water pollution, and they integrate these themes using a systems‑thinking One Health framework.
- Week 3 (August 2-8, 2026): Residential Field Experience at Paul Smith’s College: Field activities including plant identification, zoonotic disease studies, water quality assessments, farm visits, walk and talk sessions, campfire discussions, and optional outdoor opportunities for hiking and kayaking.
- Plant identification and ethnobotany.
- Zoonotic and vector-borne disease studies.
- Water quality sampling and pollution impact analysis.
- Farm visits to explore sustainable agriculture.
- EcoPsychology and mindfulness activities.
Previous outdoor skills and experience are not required, but this is an active course. We ask that students inform us in advance of the need for any necessary accommodation. Students can request an accommodation through the Student Support Office at studentsupport@excelsior.edu.
Boot Fitting Instructions: To prevent blisters, make sure boots are broken in well before the week at Paul Smith’s College. Waterproof the boots and consider wearing thin nylon socks under thick socks if you get blisters easily.
The course will be taught by a team of Paul Smith’s faculty led by Melanie Johnson, PhD.
