<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}history-2.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 176px; float: right;" />Au Sable did not become &ldquo;The Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies&rdquo; until 1979. It started years before as a dream of Harold Snyder while he was still a graduate student at Michigan State University. Harold believed that first-hand contact with God&rsquo;s creation could powerfully shape and transform a person&rsquo;s relationship with God and their commitment to Jesus Christ. He also believed that serving and protecting the physical was an important role for human beings living on earth under the authority of God, and something that could and should be done by every person. Thanks to the work and vision of Harold Snyder and many others, these ideas have been shaped into the reality of thousands of lives today, lives touched and changed by the education and experience of the Au Sable Institute.</p>
<p>
	Today there are about 4,000 alumni of Au Sable&rsquo;s courses, internship experiences and Graduate Fellows programs. Many, perhaps most, are working today in ways unique to their calling and giftedness, to serve, protect and restore God&rsquo;s earth.</p>
