{"id":66198,"date":"2012-09-27T08:17:17","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T12:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=66198"},"modified":"2012-10-02T11:09:35","modified_gmt":"2012-10-02T15:09:35","slug":"hands-on-uconn-course-takes-students-on-african-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/09\/hands-on-uconn-course-takes-students-on-african-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands-On UConn Course Takes Students on African Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this first of a four-part special series, one of UConn Today’s journalists reports on the experiences of UConn students with whom she traveled to South Africa this past summer. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>To learn more about African <\/em>F<\/em>ield <\/em>E<\/em>cology,<\/em> which is<\/em> <\/em>a General Education course, <\/em>visit <\/em>http:\/\/bit.ly\/RgJM3C<\/em><\/a>, or attend the series of guest lectures to be held Oct. 1-4 in Storrs by <\/em>Lee Gutteridge of the Entabeni Game Reserve<\/em><\/em>.<\/em> <\/em>Email <\/em>toafrica2013@gmail.com<\/em><\/a> for details.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

[flickr-gallery id=”72157631575252321″]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Imagine UConn students giving up cell phones, TVs, and the Internet. Dozens of them are gladly doing just that \u2013 for a class.<\/p>\n

The coursework is decidedly unconventional, with students jotting notes from open-air cruisers traversing the African bush while they view cheetahs, lions, and giraffes. Thoughtful discussions happen around campfires illuminated by countless brilliant stars. Canvas tents take the place of dorm rooms, with screaming jackals and roaring lions often within earshot.<\/p>\n

\"UConn<\/a>
UConn students examine animal tracks at Entabeni Game Reserve. (Stefanie Dion Jones\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Led by Morty Ortega, associate professor of natural resources and the environment, this journey into the wilderness is at the heart of an African field ecology course offered through UConn\u2019s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Following a semester in the classroom, Ortega\u2019s students set out for a 21-day, summertime trek to Entabeni Game Reserve, a sprawling, 55,000-acre private nature reserve, to live and learn firsthand about the bushveld of South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like nothing you\u2019ve ever done,\u201d says Kelly O\u2019Connor \u201913 (CANR), one of 18 students who traveled to Entabeni this past summer. \u201cIt took me a couple of days to even feel like I was here. You can\u2019t communicate to your brain that you\u2019re not at a zoo \u2013 you\u2019re actually looking at real wild animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spending up to 15 hours a day immersed in such activities as game drives, caving expeditions, venomous snake handling, and lessons in everything from animal tracking to anti-poaching to astronomy, students find a learning environment that proves to be engaging and free of distraction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the best classes I\u2019ve taken because it\u2019s so hands-on. I learn by doing,\u201d says Amanda Baez \u201912 (CANR). \u201cYou\u2019re in it. You feel it. You sense everything. You become a part of it. You\u2019re not sitting in a classroom taking notes. [The bush] becomes your classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018A Positive Message\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

By bringing groups to Africa since 2001, but to Entabeni up to three times a year since 2009, Ortega hopes to expand his students\u2019 worldview while offering them compelling, practical lessons in ecology and preserving the environment.<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/a>
Amy Richardson ‘\u0080\u009913 (CANR) photographs a rhino from a cruiser in South Africa. (Lee Hecker ‘\u0080\u009913 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMany people are doom and gloom when they talk about conservation,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to give a positive message. Let\u2019s visit different places on the planet, enjoy the planet, and see if we can\u2019t save it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Entabeni, meaning \u201cplace of the mountain,\u201d is a rare find, with several distinct ecosystems supporting a staggering variety of plants and animals. Boasting nearly 5 percent of the world\u2019s bird species on one reserve alone, it is also home to thousands of other species, from zebras to cobras to crocodiles, as well as Africa\u2019s \u201cBig Five:\u201d elephant, black rhino, leopard, lion, and Cape buffalo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat diversity \u2013 that\u2019s a big part of why we can go out at any time of year and just see amazing wildlife, be it interesting insects to a lion hunting a giraffe,\u201d says Lee Gutteridge, director of Entabeni\u2019s Nature Guide Training School. \u201cYou can see pretty much anything here.\u201d<\/p>\n

With coursework tailored for university-level students, the reserve also provides specialized 25-day sessions for adults and an intensive, six-month accredited training program for aspiring nature guides. In addition, several lodges house tourists on safari vacations.<\/p>\n

[yframe url=’http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KVfySQh_Ntw’]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018Life-Changing Experience\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Along with the knowledge they gain about the natural world over the three weeks, UConn students absorb local history and culture through daily interaction with Entabeni\u2019s experienced and diverse troop of rangers. Simply sitting and talking around the campfire each night \u2013 without technology \u2013 becomes an unexpected perk as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just buying a plane ticket and doing a semester abroad,\u201d says Shane Feyers \u201913 (CANR). \u201cThis forces you to find something inside of you that humans had all through evolution and just in the past couple hundred years have lost. Here, you find it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many other students are just as quick to attest that the course extends well beyond lessons in ecology.<\/p>\n

For Trevor Biggs \u201912 (CLAS), the opportunity for self-discovery was clear. \u201cIn college, most of the time when you hear about Africa and trips to Africa, the question is, \u2018What can you do for Africa?\u2019 But here, it\u2019s more like, \u2018What can Africa do for you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Bok \u201913 (CANR) agrees. \u201cThe class itself is just a life-changing experience that would really benefit humanity as a whole. It sounds a little cheesy, but it kind of puts things into perspective and touches your heart. \u2026 [and] would benefit a lot of people outside of the ecological field.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some students, the prospect of such an adventure is precisely what drew them to UConn in the first place. For others, the experience is one they are eager to endorse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do what I can to spread the word to everybody about how incredible this is,\u201d says Lee Hecker \u201913 (CLAS). \u201cIt\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can\u2019t pass up. It\u2019s something people need to know about and need to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spending up to 15 hours a day immersed in such activities as game drives, venomous snake handling, animal tracking, and astronomy, UConn students find a learning environment that’s engaging and free of distraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":66315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,88,1,70],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[49],"class_list":["post-66198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gallery","category-global-affairs","category-uncategorized","category-video"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-28 01:37:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66198"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66548,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66198\/revisions\/66548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/66315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66198"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=66198"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=66198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}