FNR Field Reports: Elizabeth Nojd Shares Week 4 Update from Sweden Study Abroad Trip

Throughout the 2024 Sustainable Natural Resources study abroad course in Sweden, FNR students will check in to provide weekly updates on the trip highlights. Senior wildlife major Elizabeth Nojd recaps Week 4,sharing about stops in Orebro, Sweden. Nojd, a Bourbonnais, Ill., native, is minoring in animal science and aquatic science and is involved in the Purdue student chapters of The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society. 

During the four-week Sustainable Natural Resources study abroad course students will examine natural resources broadly defined, including forestry,  fisheries, wildlife, agriculture, mining, outdoor recreation, and urban sustainability. They will define, discover, and document examples where sustainability of resource use matters. The course explores the effect of terrain, climate, vegetation, faunal assemblages, social structures and technologies on natural resource use. FNR 46000 is a collaboration of Purdue University, North Carolina State University, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. American and Swedish students work together to research issues in resource management.

The course is co-taught by FNR's Drs. Tomas Hook and Doug Jacobs as well as other instructors from NC State and SLU. 

Sunday July 21st, 2024
Today was our first full day in Orebro and me and Sophia DeMoss got up early to do a little exploring and birding. We ended up finding a sheep pasture that was open for people to walk through and explore and even had a cookout area where we had a group cookout later in the day and enjoyed hotdogs and smores. Before the cookout, we visited Oset and Rynningeviken which is their regional park that used to be a landfill but is now a functioning 740 hectares park. We got to see the cows they use to manage the tall grasses on the lands which can become overgrown and invasive. Afterwards, we were free to explore the park in which case some people went for a swim at the nearby pond. 

Monday July 22nd, 2024
Early in the morning, a relative of Dr. Hook’s invited us to go birding and a small group of us went out. He even brought us a traditional Swedish fika of coffee and biscuits for the hike! We spent the rest of the day visiting the Julita house which is a historical farming property with a lot of history in the dairy and apple industry. After which we were free for the evening and many people chose to play soccer.

Tuesday July 23rd, 2024
We spent the majority of the day on the bus on the way back to Uppsala but had a few stops along the way at the Gripsholm deer park and even Dr. Hook’s house! Dr. Hook showed us ancient viking rune stones that are in the neighborhood around his house as well as let us eat the cherries from his tree.

Wednesday July 24th, 2024
Today was a rest, recovery, and work on projects day. Most people on the trip spent the day working on our final presentations, myself included.

Thursday July 25th, 2024
For our last free day of the trip I went to Stockholm along with Mallory Wagner and Sophia DeMoss. We explored the Natural History Museum and then went shopping in Gamla Stan (old town). In the evening my group met one last time to finish up the details of our project.

Friday July 26th, 2024
Today was presentation day so we journeyed over to SLU for all six groups to give our final presentations. There were a variety of topics from transportation systems, food systems, forest sustainability, biodiversity, etc. Each topic was presented differently with little interactive games or questions such as one group having escape room-like puzzles and another reenacting shark tank. The rest of the day we were free and many people spent the day hanging out as much as possible before having to leave the next day.

Saturday July 27th, 2024
Leaving day! I woke up early to say goodbye to folks as they left. Bittersweet goodbyes since I will miss many of these people and the city itself. I spent half the day on the train to Copenhagen to spend four days exploring on my own. This trip was more than I could have hoped for and I will treasure the memories made for many years to come.