John Carroll, director of the School of Natural Resources, will present “Fun with Wildlife in Africa: Beyond the Animal Planet” at 7 p.m., Oct. 1 in the Hardin Hall auditorium. The seminar is free and open to the public.
Carroll will talk about his years of experience in working on wildlife conservation issues in Africa.
“Most of us learn a great deal of what we know about Africa’s wildlife, conservation and people from television and other filtered outlets, leaving us with some views that do not match up with reality,” Carroll said.
Carroll has been working on projects in various parts of Africa since the early 1990s. Most recently, he and his students worked with conservation efforts on the Pygmy hippo in Sierra Leone and on lions in Botswana.
During the seminar, Carroll will provide some examples of how modernization of Africa makes it one of the most dynamic parts of the planet. However, modernization also means that maintaining the charismatic landscapes and wildlife that Africa is known for will be more challenging.
“I hope that those who come to the seminar will have a better appreciation for the place and people of the African continent, and leave thinking that they might be able to travel there themselves,” Carroll said.
Prior to coming to UNL, Carroll was a professor at the University of Georgia and at California University of Pennsylvania. He has also served as a research scientist at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. He holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of North Dakota, where he specialized in the ecology and management of game birds.
UNL’s School of Natural Resources is hosting a series of educational outreach seminars, beginning with Carroll’s on Oct. 1. The second and third seminars will take place Nov. 19 and Dec. 3, respectively.
