Our new Conservation Intern initiative
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Thank you to Dr Cullen Gieselman for funding our 2022-23 Conservation Interns!
Bats without Borders was delighted to be able to launched our new 'Conservation Internship' initiative in 2022 with the aim to contribute to long-term sustainable conservation in southern Africa. This was only possible thanks to Dr Cullen Gieselman for kickstart funding, without which we would not have been able to launch this new initiative. |
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Meet our 2022/23 Conservation Interns
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The Bats without Borders 'Conservation Internship' initiative started in May 2022 with our in-country partners in Zambia (BirdWatch Zambia) and Malawi (Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi, WESM). The programme offers on the ground and online training and involves close teamwork with the Bats without Borders team and the wider WESM and BirdWatch Zambia teams.
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Alison Simpanzye - Zambia
Alison grew up in rural Zambia before starting tertiary education at Copperbelt University, where he completed a BSc in Wildlife Management. Alison is passionate about making a difference in biodiversity conservation through community outreach and ecological research, to achieve the long-term conservation of biodiversity. His interests also lie in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, climate smart agriculture, biodiversity monitoring, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation measures. |
Wongani Sibande - Malawi
Wongani grew up in family that loves nature, which has played a big role developing his passion in conservation. Wongani is an environmental scientist who is passionate about participating in the sustainable development of Malawi to find practical solutions to the major conservation challenges we are currently facing. He is particularly interested in the human dimension of conservation, especially human-wildlife conflict mitigation and understanding drivers behind various behaviours humans have towards the environment. |
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Alison: 'Being a Conservation Intern with Bats without Borders has really been a perfect opportunity for me to strengthen my skills and also grow my future conservation career. The most enjoyable thing is the exposure. I have been exposed to different conservation organisations, where I have been working and learning from different bat and conservation experts. Also this gives me an insight into how different conservation non-profit NGOs work.' Wongani: 'The best part of this internship is the platform to discover a lot more about bats and acquire skills to conserve them. I have done training, attended research symposiums, and participated in bat surveys, which all have allowed me to discover more about bats and their related conservation work around the world. As an early conservationist, this enables me to gain knowledge and skills which will help me boost professionalism in my career.' |
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Our Conservation Interns explaining more about the programme.
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