Uganda - Wildlife Conservation, Ecology, and Health

Location: Kibale National Park, Uganda

Dates: January 4 – 19, 2024*

*Dates will be finalized by October 2023.

Courses Offered:

Undergraduate students: ANTHP 401.68
Graduate students: ANTHP 791.68
(CUNY tuition is not included in program fee)

Application Deadline: October 15, 2023 November 1, 2023

Program Fee: $2,600 (estimate) includes housing (dormitory), food, local transportation, cultural events and international health and travel insurance. TUITION and AIRFARE are NOT included in the program fee. All students are responsible for arriving at their study abroad location by the first day of the program; this may mean flying the day before.

Payment Schedule: $350 deposit is due within 1 week of acceptance, no later than November 17, 2023. Program fee balance ($2,600; estimate, to be confirmed November 2023) is due on or before November 30, 2023. Payments must be made with certified check or money order. NO CASH, PERSONAL CHECKS OR CREDIT CARDS. Payments should be made at the Office of Education Abroad during office hours.

Students are responsible for meeting the payment deadline regardless of funding source, i.e. Macaulay Opportunities Fund, scholarships, loans, or any other type of financial aid. Late fees will be applied to all delayed payments.

Financial Aid: Please be sure to meet with the Financial Aid Office to discuss your particular financial aid package.

This program offers an experiential course in the study of wildlife ecology and conservation and its relationship to human health. The majority of the course takes place in an African rainforest that hosts some of the highest densities of primates in the world, and students also gain experience in a savannah and wetland habitats.

Students learn the basic ecology of African mammals and plants; how to identify them, measure their abundance and distribution. As well, they learn how ecology and human health interact through an examination of ecosystem services (including climate regulation, water management, wildlife resources) provided by wildlife habitats as well as the role of tourism on local economies. Field exercises include: tracking wild chimpanzees and learning about ecotourism, learning to identify medicinal plants from local healers, understanding watershed management on the Nile River, visiting carbon sequestration projects (via carbon credits) to learn how forests are restored, and deciphering how wetlands are managed with a viewing of the famed shoebill stork.

Students will conduct a 3-day independent project on a topic of their choice with the help of expert Ugandan field assistants. Students will have the opportunity to view several species of wildlife in rainforests, including wild chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, baboons, as well as in the savannahs, including elephants, giraffe, buffalo, hippos, rhinos among others. Conservation lectures are given by Uganda Wildlife Authority officers and others who are actively involved in wildlife management and human health in the area.

Students participating in this program must be able to cope with modest living accommodations in a dormitory setting with outdoor toilets. Students must be physically fit enough to walk on fairly flat terrain for 3-4 hours a day. They must be vaccinated for yellow fever as per country requirements, and comply with any health requirements from their doctors since malaria is rare, but a risk.

Students in this program will receive both credits and letter grades. Grades will count towards their Hunter GPA.

All applicants must fulfill the general eligibility requirements along with this program’s prerequisites.

Application Requirements:
In addition to completing the study abroad application forms, those wishing to apply must complete the following requirements:

• One recommendation from a faculty member who has worked with or taught the student within the last 2 years. Faculty should use the Faculty Recommendation to submit their recommendation.
• Interview and approval from the faculty member(s) teaching the course.