Devin von Stade - Mongolia

Devin von Stade - Mongolia

    

This summer I realized a dream I had left on the backburner for over a decade, exploring Mongolia with one of my best friends. Inspired by old National Geographic articles and pieces of historical fiction and non-fiction alike we had declared it the ultimate personal adventure goal. Having grown up (a little) since then, I briefly considered that my excitement at the prospect was perhaps misplaced, that now as a scientist my idea of adventure no longer applied, but I was so very wrong.

Jaquelyn Lauletta - Namibia

Jaquelyn Lauletta - Namibia

    

Walking among Elephants

This last summer, I had the pleasure of conducting a STAR project in Namibia studying stress-hormones of free-roaming African elephants.  I spent five weeks in Etosha National Park, Namibia performing my field work and one week at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research extracting and measuring the hormones in the laboratory. This was an amazing experience and a phenomenal way to spend my last summer in veterinary school!

Marlene Haggblade - Rwanda

Marlene Haggblade - Rwanda Marlene Haggblade - Rwanda

I always forget how much I feel at home in Africa. As I got off the plane in Kigali, Rwanda I was immediately surrounded by vegetation I hadn’t seen since I was a tiny tot chasing chameleons around our backyard in Madagascar. It had been 3 years since I had last set foot on African soil as a temporary resident, and 10 years since I had lived in sub-Saharan Africa as a permanent resident. The familiarities of my youth enveloped me.