Namibia Wildlife Aerial Observatory

Catalog description

Namibia Wildlife Aerial Observatory (WAO) is restricted to junior-level and above students who participate in Namibia WAO study-abroad. The course is a purpose-driven educational experience of field work and research. The first 10 weeks take place in Namibia; of which during the first two weeks, the students receive lectures on such topics as African landscapes and wildlife, African culture, cross-cultural knowledge and skills, wildlife trade and poaching, data analysis for research, and are trained in the operation and maintenance of unmanned aerial vehicle systems (e.g. vehicles, cameras, communications) and in the following eight weeks are divided into field units that conduct aerial data collection for the purposes of meeting given wildlife missions. Upon returning to NC State, each field unit spends two-weeks (10 days) turning their findings into a research journal article for dissemination.