Their visit to Hawaii, Samoa, American Samoa and Fiji is part of a 15 week programme coordinated by the School for International Training.

It is while in Samoa that the students spent an afternoon this week, learning about how the Pacific region is affected by climate change, marine pollution and marine species from staff of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme(SPREP).

"It was a good session," said Taito Nakalevu, the Programme Manager for the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project.

"There were a lot of questions asked by the students - they were interested about the funding that is coming into the Pacific, whether it is enough or not and how we'll be using it for adaptation to climate change impacts."

The third year University students spent a week in Hawaii before coming to Samoa on the 12th of February. They have spent 10 days living in a local Samoan village learning about the different kinds of environmental issues that affect the community.

The students will also be visiting American Samoa and Fiji before returning back to the United States. They are led by Jackie Faasisila, the Director of the study abroad programme by the School for International Training.