Malawi

New Job!

My blog's back up and running for my new job in Malawi! Just about a month after completing my MSc in Primate Conservation from Oxford Brookes University in England in September, I am one of the first people from my program to find a job. Next week I'll be undertaking the role of Primate Release Project Manager at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. You can check them out here:

http://www.lilongwewildlife.org/

This job is perfect for me and a dream job. I'll be in charge of releasing a troop of yellow baboons back into their natural habitat. After so many years of taking care of and rehabilitating baboons in captivity, being a part of the release process is a dream come true for me. This is the whole goal! The wildlife centre is just outside the capitol, Lilongwe, but the release site is in Kasungu National Park. The place looks absolutely beautiful. I'll be living at a research camp inside the national park, which suits me just fine. Sounds rustic, but nothing I'm not used to. My responsibilities will be to do some pre-release monitoring, release the baboons, then do extensive post-release monitoring. There isn't much information or literature out there on the release of captive primates, and almost none for baboons, so this is an exciting and vital project. Basically, I'll be following the released baboons all day in the bush collecting some data. I'll also be working and supervising other young students or research who come to the research camp, which is also home to the Wild Dog Conservation Malawi research team. They do tons of really cool research and tracking with carnivores in the area, which hopefully I'll be lucky enough to see as well.

Where is heck is Malawi? 

Even I had to consult a map at first. It's a small country below Tanzania, and bordered by Mozambique and Zambia. Its biggest claim to fame, at least in Los Angeles, is that this is where Madonna adopted a kid from years ago. About one in every three people here remind me of this fact. It's remarkable.

I definitely recommend at least Wikipedia-ing the country because it's very cool. There's a big beautiful lake that I would most definitely like to see. Kasungu NP is a couple hours from the capitol on the country's western border. I've never been to Malawi, and am certainly excited to see what it's all about!

Ebola

I've gotten around 683,428,492 comments and questions about the Ebola epidemic in Africa and if it's anywhere near Malawi. While I do welcome the concern, I have learned that people need to bone up on their geography. For starters, Africa is far larger than regular maps depict.

Secondly, Ebola is only in three (or four sometimes) countries all the way on the west coast of Africa, and I'll be approximately 4,500 miles and 10 countries away. It's as if someone said they weren't going to come to Los Angeles because it was snowing in New York. So don't worry, I'll be safe from Ebola.

As of now, I'm all packed and ready to go!!!! Check back here for more updates once I get to my new home!