ESA is run and staffed by some of the best placed and most qualified field research scientists within the environmental field in Botswana. All of the four directors have been involved in field research for the past 4 to 10 years, running research projects on a diverse array of topics from the population dynamics of crocodiles in the Okavango, to the movement patterns of a migratory zebra and wildebeest population in the Makgadikgadi Pans.

 

Using the knowledge and expertise gained through the trials and tribulations of research in the Africa, we advise international research teams on appropriate ecological questions to be investigated in northern Botswana, the best field techniques and modes of transport to use, and advise wildlife film crews on how to get their shots, while still operating in an ecologically sound and ethical manner.

 

The directors of ESA started to work with the American university study abroad scheme (SIT) in 2004, giving them lectures on current field research in Botswana and local management issues. Since then we have expanded to provide individual lecturers and teachers the opportunity to bring their students and pupils into the African wilderness to learn the fundamentals of ecology and conservation in an open air classroom, and first hand, the techniques used to quantify the living world around us.

 

We have design a series of safari courses that we feel cover the principal components required to understand how the unique ecosystems of Botswana work, and further more, to explore ways how we can help to conserve these dynamic systems.

 

We want our courses to install a passion through knowledge and understanding to young enthused people who want to learn more about the issues and problems with conservation in Africa today.

 

The courses are ideal for anyone who is interested in these subject matters and are not restricted to people in university or school. ESA offers set date departures specifically for individuals who want to join us on these courses.

 

The courses offer people a chance to live in the bush in some of the most unique environments in Africa. While the courses are designed to educate and inspire, they are also fun, relaxed and provide everyone with a unique safari experience.

The people behind ESA

 

Dr. Chris Brooks

Chris was brought up in Kenya, and moved to Botswana in 1998 to work as a professional safari guide. After several years guiding exclusive safaris in the Kalahari Desert and Okavango Delta, Chris established his PhD research project on the migratory zebra population in the Makgadikgadi Pans. Chris currently combines the rewards of conducting and supervising research within Botswana with his involvement with ESA. He is an associate researcher at the University of Bristol and works closely with the University Of Botswana. He has extensive knowledge and experience in conducting ecological monitoring and scientific research on range ecology and management, animal behaviour, herbivore foraging strategies and has conducted numerous community appraisals within the field of human-wildlife conflict. He is continuing the Makgadikgadi zebra research project and has recently helped to establish a project on Cape buffalo movement within the Delta, while advising PhD research students working on the herbivore guild structure of the Okavango Delta and the foraging ecology of Brown Hyaenas in the Makgadikgadi.

 

 

Dr. Casper Bonyongo

Casper is a passionate conservationist who has spent the last 15 years working in his home country in the ecological field. He completed his PhD from the University of Bristol on herbivore structure and interactions within the Okavango Delta in 2005 and is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Botswana. He has conducted research on wildlife management, human-wildlife conflict, range ecology and sustainable use and conflict issues. He has been actively involved in supervising consultancy reviews for the Okavango Delta Management Plan (ODMP) and in the set up of the Biodiversity Project, while also co-ordinating the environmental monitoring of the tsetse fly eradication project in Kwando-Zambezi. He is currently supervising PhD and MSc research projects on human-elephant conflict in the pan-handle, herbivore dynamics within Moremi Game Reserve and Meyer’s parrot within the Okavango Delta.

 

 

Thoralf Meyer (MSc)

Thoralf has worked with the University of Botswana since 1998, primarily acting as a GIS consultant and project manager. He has put his GIS and remote sensing field and analytical skills to use for a broad range of social and environmental projects such as the Slaty Egret Project for Birdlife Botswana, elephant habitat mapping for Conservation International, and the Water and Ecosystem Resources Project, while providing scientific and data management support for most of the independent researchers and several of the Government Departments within Botswana. He is currently under-taking a PhD on the temporal transition of habitat types and vegetation within the Okavango Delta as part of the Biodiversity Project through the University of Virginia, USA.

 

 

Vince Shacks  (MSc)

Vince joined the Okavango Crocodile Research team in 2004 after completing his Honous degree at Stellenbosh University. For his Masters degree in Environmental Studies, he looked at the habitat vulnerability of crocs, assessing human / land use & crocodile interactions, and thereby contributing to a better understanding of regional and habitat vulnerability.  His years spent working along the channels of the Delta have given him a fantastic knowledge of this watery maze. Vince is our resident aquatic ecologist specialist. He currently working on a continuation of the crocodile research project and has been instrumental in pushing forward the development of a sanctuary within the Delta to safe-guard crocodile breeding grounds.