Biology of East Africa | Ohio Wesleyan University



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Wesleyan students from Ohio travel to Tanzania for the OWU connection experience

Name : Margaret Michicich '19
City of. Origin : Root, Wisconsin
Majors : Genetics [19659004] Miners : Chemistry
Experience : Travel Course, "Biology of Africa" East "

Michicich and 11 other OWU students traveled to Tanzania for two weeks in May as part of their learning trip. Course. With the advice of professors of zoology John Gatz and Amy Downing students visited two parts of the Serengeti ecosystem – the Ngorongoro crater (eighth natural wonder of the world) and Serengeti National Park. They also visited the Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park while they were directly observing the animals they had just studied in class.

Why did you choose this OWU Connection experience?

Love Travel and Travel-Learning Courses (TLC) are a simple and amazing way to do it. Traveling to Tanzania for a wildlife safari is really a unique opportunity in a lifetime and being able to do it after learning biology makes the experience a lot more rewarding. In addition, the financial support of OWU has made it possible. This is not an experience I could have done if it was for OWU.

"Given my tight school-readiness schedule at the Graduate School, the travel-learning courses give the opportunity to travel and to have amazing experiences of theory to practice while graduating in four years. "

What key lessons did you learn during your travels?

"Having taken the course, I was able to identify the species, get to know them, and characterize their behavior.Know the facts well in advance allowed you to spot more animals and to appreciate even more the diversity and the experience

"For example, we learned the hunting behavior of big cats or flehmen in ungulates or reproduction of lions." Then we saw all big cats do distinct behaviors …. For a regular tourist, they may not know what's going on or why, but because we spent 15 weeks studying African animals in the area. East, we were able to appreciate what was going on and see the natural phenomenon and ecology.] Why Experiences like This Do They Count?

"This exposes you to direct applications of your field of study. We went to national parks where researchers do zoological studies and scientists work extremely hard to conserve wildlife.

"For those interested in conservation, ecology or zoological research, they could see the types of research questions they could ask. and, more broadly, we have seen an important biological phenomenon. This gives you a great appreciation for the natural world and the need to preserve and conserve biodiversity.

"I also enjoyed the cultural aspect very much.We visited a Maasai tribe, a public primary school and a local village.This allowed us to learn another way of life and I've been able to appreciate the rich history of Tanzania.

"Tanzania is unique in that it has tribes who still live as they have for centuries and who have very traditional customs. At the same time, there are areas where people of all tribes live together and act as a community of common interest and have more modern ideals.

"The government has an interesting job of balancing and respecting old traditional tribal values ​​while maintaining social justice. and preserve modern rights. Getting to know the different ways of life was very interesting.

"Experiences like these are important because they challenge your hegemonic belief systems and give you experiences outside your comfort zone and with different people. This creates greater understanding and appreciation for diversity and global cultures. "

Why did you choose Ohio Wesleyan?

" It was on my radar because it was a small undergraduate institute. It is rare that such a small university has genetics.

"As I learned more, I fell in love, I liked the rigor of the courses and the fact that I could involve myself in research." I loved the feeling close to the campus. "

" I knew I wanted to continue my studies after graduation, so I knew I would take a lot of classes in sequence, which would make it difficult to travel for a while. " But OWU clarified that I could still travel.I've also been intrigued by the Honors program. "

What are your plans after graduation?

"I hope that I will go directly to the graduate school to get my PhD in the field of molecular genetics."

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