SFS (The School for Field Studies) - Bhutan Program Research Symposium was held yesterday in Thimphu at the Royal Thimphu College to present the findings of directed field research carried out by SFS students during their 3 months semester program in Bhutan. 21 undergraduate students from 19 different universities/colleges of the USA have been undertaking the semester course on ‘Himalayan Environment and Society in Transition’ at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment (UWICE), Bumthang since September 2015. The students have carried out field research related to forests, biodiversity, and rural livelihoods under Choekhor and Tang geogs of Bumthang.

The symposium was attended by heads and representatives of various departments and agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, and other relevant agencies.  Dr. James A. Cramer, the President of SFS based at Massachusetts, USA has also attended the Symposium. Mr. Chencho Norbu, Director General of the Department of Forests and Park Services who presided over the Symposium expressed his appreciation to all the SFS students for choosing Bhutan and carrying out research that are very informative and useful for building up a future research. The Director General also urged that if the SFS program could explore to include a few Bhutanese students in the future which could benefit both American and Bhutanese students.   

The students will fly back to their home country on 16^th December 2015.