About
Welcome to Au Sable Institute, where you will encounter both the wonders of God’s world and the challenges of caring for creation.
Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies offers environmental science programs for students and adults of all ages: primary and secondary school, college, and graduate school. Our academic program offers field-based, university-level courses in environmental studies and environmental science at campuses in the Great Lakes region (Mancelona, MI), Pacific Northwest (Whidbey Island, WA), South India (Thiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu), and Latin America (Vara Blanca, Costa Rica) with academic credit offered by more than 50 colleges and universities.
Our community school program provides environmental education for children in the northwest lower Michigan region, while also teaching budding environmental education teachers through our internship program.
Our graduate fellows program supports graduate students in environmental studies by bringing Christian students at public universities together for group discussions and retreats centered around Christian environmental stewardship.
Want to learn more? Check out our FAQ section, investigate our courses, sign up for our e-newsletter (on right), or contribute to the Au Sable community. For more information, contact us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
A Welcome Message From the Executive Director
We are a Christian institute of environmental studies with the mission of bringing both the Christian community and the public at large to a fuller, deeper, and better understanding of the stewardship of God’s creation. We do this primarily through advanced, field-based courses in all aspects of environmental study for students from participating colleges throughout the United States and Canada, but we also provide environmental education to our immediate neighbors, especially at our campus in northern Michigan. Our focus is to create and provide new knowledge and resources about the care of creation that address both scientific understanding and theological perspective.
If you are visiting us as a prospective student, we invite you to take a look at our course descriptions and register for courses. Our courses are taught by outstanding faculty from colleges throughout North America, and feature the latest techniques and best practices for intelligent and effective care of God’s creation.
If you are an alumnus of the Au Sable Institute, welcome back! We are always encouraged and continually amazed at the hundreds of stories from former students relating the ways their experiences at Au Sable transformed their education, their career paths, and their lives. Follow the links here to see how you can become more involved in our ongoing work, and become an active member of our Alumni Association (if you aren’t already).
If you are new to Au Sable’s work and mission, we hope you will take your time enjoying a leisurely stroll through the many areas of this website to become better acquainted with the Institute, and discover potential pathways for your own involvement with us.
To everyone: we extend a warm welcome, an interest in knowing what brought you to our site, and a commitment to answer your inquiries or provide any assistance that we can. Thank you again for your visit. Feel free to contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you have questions, comments or ideas you would like to share with me about the Institute. We look forward to hearing from and about you, and we wish you all the best.
For the Institute,
Fred Van Dyke, Executive Director