Previous to the opening of the Life Science Course in 2006, the purpose of high school overseas trips was language training and cross-cultural exchange. With the Life Science Course we wanted to include international perspectives on environmental issues with an eye on Asia. We decided on Malaysian Borneo as a destination, and in March 2007 the first group left for the island. Borneo is one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, and we deemed it the most suitable area for us to learn about environmental issues. In addition, Malaysia is multi-ethnic and multi-religious, and English is widely used making it an attractive destination for promoting cross-cultural understanding. I personally visited the site in 2006 taking part in a biodiversity and environmental conservation program on a seven-night, eight-day itinerary under the auspices of the University of Sabah. After 2007, the content of subsequent visitations changed yearly as different activities were introduced. By 2015, the first half of the trip included exchanges with local girls'high schools and an environmental learning program at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn in the state of Johor on Peninsular Malaysia. The latter part of the trip was based in Borneo with fieldwork done with the cooperation of University of Sabah. Travel expenses were shouldered by students, but the popularity of the program grew as the number of participants increased from eight in 2007 to twenty-eight in 2015. In addition to learning about the environment, the students had many chances to utilize their English skills, and the entire experience provided them with a fresh motivation to continue their studies.

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