Directors: Professor Frank Frey (Department of Biology) and Professor Peter Scull (Department of Geography)
On-campus course: N/A
Tentative travel dates: May 18 - June 13, 2010
Course credit: Half credit (.5)
Prerequisites: Students must register for or have completed one of the following courses - BIOL 330, BIOL 341, BIOL 364, BIOL 491 (Frey), GEOG 306, GEOG 316, GEOG/PCON 317, GEOG 345, GEOG 491 (Kraly or Scull)
The Uganda Extended Study is an interdisciplinary program in southwestern Uganda affiliated with environmental studies. It focuses on infectious disease transmission within and between human and animal populations, national park and wildlife management issues, as well as community health and development within the case of Uganda.
Students actively participate in the following research projects with a diverse array of community leaders:
(1) identification and tracking of disease in habituated mountain gorilla
groups using modern DNA fingerprinting techniques;
(2) using GIS to reconstruct movement patterns of these habituated groups,
their interaction with each other, and their contact with people, in order to
better understand disease dynamics; and
(3) using community health surveys and personal interviews to further explore
health impacts of human-gorilla interaction as well as the development of
sustainable conservation practices.
The bulk of this extended study takes place in Buhoma, a small village that borders the Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest, a World Heritage Site since 1994. Ideal candidates will come from across the environmental geography, biology, and geography curricula.
Cost estimate for the Uganda Extended Study Group