FNR Field Report: Sam Lillie Provides Sweden-Norway Study Abroad Week 3 Recap

Throughout the 2026 Sustainable Natural Resources study abroad course in Sweden and Norway, FNR students will check in to provide weekly updates on the trip's highlights.

Sam Lillie is a senior double major in wildlife and aquatic sciences. The South Bend, Indiana, native has been a resident assistant on campus for the past two years.

During the three-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.

Sam Lillie provides a recap of Week 3 of the trip below. 

Sunday, July 5

This was a travel day for us. I woke up with enough time to make a breakfast of eggs, toast and a bowl of cereal before our 7:30 a.m. bus arrived. We departed from Tromsø, Norway and the bus took us to Kiruna, Sweden. We had to wait at the train station for around two hours but then caught our first of two trains. I played cards for almost the entire train ride, and on the second train I worked on my knitting and played imposter. Our train was delayed outside our final stop at Umeå central station and we arrived at our hostel past midnight. I went with a group to a local burger joint before finally going to bed.

Monday, July 6

I woke up early to make it to the breakfast provided by the hostel. Then the Purdue students went to a museum in the city, while the NCSU (North Carolina State) kids got the day off. The museum included exhibits about art, natural history and Swedish and Sami culture. I really enjoyed looking at all the displays and learning more about the area we’ve been staying in for the past couple weeks. I ate lunch at the cafe with a friend (it was delicious!) before regrouping at the hostel. We went back out into the city where I desperately searched for an adapter to import photos from my camera SD card onto my phone, but to no avail. I treated myself with froyo to make up for it, watched the city birds and grabbed groceries before relaxing for the rest of the night. 

Tuesday, July 7

It was hostel breakfast again before we set out for the day. Our visit to the Marine Research Center was unfortunately canceled because of some flooding that the facility experienced. We had some impromptu group meetings to work on our final projects instead. Then the ferry came and took us to Norrbyskär, an island group that once housed an entire society that worked to run a large sawmill operation. Entire families lived in apartment style houses and lived under the strict rule of the sawmill’s founder. We visited the museum, rode the miniature train around the island and then had free time to explore before the ferry returned to take us back. I met with my group to work on our project some more, made dinner and ended the night with a walk around the streets of Umeå.

Wednesday, July 8

Shortly after breakfast we left the hostel and traveled to Umeå Energicentrum, a museum and park focused on showcasing some of Umeå’s historical energy-generating infrastructure. The site is located at Umeå’s old hydroelectric facility and dam, both of which are no longer in use and have been replaced by more modern technology. We were able to look at the museum exhibits, enjoy the unique playground that drew inspiration from hydropower, see some silly sheep grazing and walk along the trails that snaked through the woods and along the river. Afterwards we walked to see the exact site where the dam used to be, looked at the nearby Arboretum and had lunch. We met back at the bus, which took us to the location of the new dam and the fish ladder that was installed to mitigate fish migration issues caused by the dam. We returned to the hostel for the day where I took a big nap, but got back up to try fermented herring provided by one of our professors and make dinner.  

Thursday, July 9

This day was given to us as dedicated time to finish up our group projects that we were presenting the following morning. I woke up for breakfast but then slept in until it was time for my group meeting. We wrapped up our project pretty fast, which gave me time to grab some items from the store, do my laundry, and then go on a walk around the city. I ended up going to the large forest park and walking around looking for birds and anything else interesting. I came back to the hostel to make dinner, made a phone call home and enjoyed an early bedtime.

Friday, July 10

I woke up early to hit breakfast and get ready for final project presentations. We walked as a group to the Swedish University of Agriculture, which was kind enough to let us use a classroom to present it. My group ended up presenting last, which is actually what I wanted! The five presentations lasted around five hours including a short lunch break. I enjoyed hearing the other groups share what they had learned over the course of the program. Once we were finished the study abroad officially concluded! I walked back to the hostel to make a late lunch. Afterwards I returned to the same park as the previous day for more birding. Then I went out to dinner for our final night in the city, and packed up all my things.