We appreciate your interest in our program and assistance in helping prospective interns find us. For many, an internship at Aprovecho Research Center is literally life-changing, in unique ways for each individual. Wherever you are in your personal search for social and ecological sustainability, we invite you to join us for a hands-on educational experience. Starting every March, June, and September, groups of up to fourteen interns join our approximately ten resident staff members for an intensive ten week learning experience. Several instructors assist in teaching each course, assuring many opportunities for personal attention and guidance.
Classes combine lecture and discussion formats with practical, hands-on activities.
We encourage a holistic understanding of each subject area that is grounded in specific experience and enhanced by the broader intellectual perspectives available in our diverse learning environment. Readings, independent projects, and field trips supplement other course work. We apply our newly-learned skills daily, cooking with food from our garden, heating and building with wood from our forest, utilizing native plant species for food, medicine, and crafts, and using various appropriate technologies to meet our basic needs. Students can often receive undergraduate or graduate college credit through arrangement with their advisors. Located between the Cascade and Coast Ranges in central western Oregon, the Research Center is five miles west of the small town of Cottage Grove, twenty miles south of the university town of Eugene, and within easy reach of some of Oregon's most beautiful natural areas.