<h1>
	About the Au Sable Institute</h1>
<h2>
	Programs</h2>
<p>
	<img align="right" alt="" border="2" src="{filedir_5}about.jpg" style="padding: 5px; margin-left: 5px;" />Welcome to Au Sable Institute, where you will encounter both the wonders of God&rsquo;s world and the challenges of caring for creation.<br />
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	Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies offers environmental science programs for students and adults of all ages: primary and secondary school, college, and graduate school. Our <a href="/courses/">academic program</a> offers field-based, university-level courses in environmental studies and environmental science at campuses in the <a href="/courses/campuses/great_lakes/">Great Lakes region</a> (Mancelona, MI), <a href="/courses/campuses/pacific_rim/">Pacific Northwest</a> (Whidbey Island, WA), <a href="/courses/campuses/india/">South India</a> (Thiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu), and <a href="/courses/campuses/costa_rica/">Latin America</a> (Vara Blanca, Costa Rica) with academic credit offered by more than <a href="/courses/participating_institutions/">50 colleges and universities</a>.<br />
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	Our <a href="/k12programs/">community school program</a> provides environmental education for children in the northwest lower Michigan region, while also teaching budding environmental education teachers through our internship program. &nbsp;<br />
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	Our <a href="/alumni_and_grad_fellows/#GradFellows">graduate fellows program</a> supports graduate students in environmental studies by bringing Christian students at public universities together for group discussions and retreats centered around Christian environmental stewardship.<br />
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	Want to learn more? Check out our <a href="/about/faq/">FAQ</a> section, investigate our <a href="/courses/course_information/">courses</a>, sign up for our e-newsletter (on right), or <a href="/donate/">contribute</a> to the Au Sable community. For more information, contact us at <a href="http://info@ausable.org">info@ausable.org</a>.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
	Vision</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;">
	A global community equipped with environmental knowledge, skills, and ethics to faithfully and fearlessly pursue the Christian vision of a flourishing earth.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
	Mission</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;">
	Au Sable Institute inspires and educates people to serve, protect, and restore God&#39;s earth.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
	Values</h2>
<p>
	In pursuit of our mission, Au Sable values:</p>
<p>
	<strong>Place-based environmental education &ndash;</strong></p>
<p>
	Through environmental education serving students in its surrounding communities, Au Sable serves its neighbors by providing them with knowledge and skills needed to care for the earth around them. Through its college courses, Au Sable provides advanced knowledge and technical skills to equip students for lifelong service in protecting, and restoring the natural world. Such knowledge and skills are then directed through volunteer outreach to our local area.</p>
<p>
	<strong>Direct scientific investigation of the natural world -</strong></p>
<p>
	Through its dedication to provide field courses and primary research experiences to undergraduate college students, Au Sable pursues new knowledge of how nature works, and how to investigate those workings in ways that lead to accurate understanding and authentic discovery.</p>
<p>
	<strong>The truth and wisdom of Scripture as a guide to our relationship with the Earth -</strong></p>
<p>
	Through its commitment to Scripture as the word of God, Au Sable values the effort of original, direct study of the Bible, theology, and Christian tradition to discover principles to guide environmental attitudes and behaviors, and infuse such principles into its courses, research, and its outreach.</p>
<p>
	<strong>Building community for mutual support and common purpose in restoring God&rsquo;s earth -</strong></p>
<p>
	Through its affirmation of the role of community in advancing God&rsquo;s care for the earth, Au Sable seeks to enable people to form bonds of mutual support with one another and the Institute informed by biblical wisdom in conservation practice. To that end, Au Sable works to foster a community of common purpose and shared achievement among its alumni and supporters.</p>
