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About the Journey - Group Bios - About Kenya - Journal Entries - Photographs - Home

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ABOUT THE JOURNEY

When Gary Ransdell, a 1973 Western Kentucky University graduate, returned to his alma mater in 1997 as its ninth president, he brought a bold vision to transform Western from a university of regional importance to a university of national prominence. In recent years, Western has expanded its international research opportunities for faculty and students in all academic areas as the University has placed an increased emphasis on applied research to solve problems facing our region, state, nation and world and as the University developed a SACS accreditation review Quality Enhancement Plan theme of “Engaging Students for Success in a Global Society.”

In 2003, the WKU Biology Department was contacted by Dr. Charles Kimwele of the University of Nairobi. He had seen some of the work WKU was doing with molecular forensics of wildlife, specifically on deer and black bear in Kentucky. Following a productive dialogue, the department offered to bring Dr. Kimwele to WKU to develop molecular primers to assist in the identification of bushmeat (illegally obtained wild game meat) in Kenya. Based on our interactions with Dr. Kimwele, it was obvious that there were many opportunities for WKU faculty and students to collaborate with the University of Nairobi staff and students, as well as various government agencies and NGOs in Kenya on research pertaining to the conservation of wildlife.

Dr. Doug McElroy and Dr. Michael Stokes from WKU traveled to Kenya in the summer of 2004 to further explore these opportunities. The department funded the travel of four students as well. This summer’s trip focuses on exciting research opportunities developed in 2004, and subsequent trips will expand this research in ecological, molecular and cultural directions. Dr. Kimwele will visit WKU on leave during the fall 2005 term, and WKU will also host Josphat Ngonyo of the East African NGO Youth for Conservation this fall. (For more on the partnership, CLICK HERE.

The Kenya trip is one of three WKU projects in Africa this summer. (For a map, CLICK HERE.) In mid-June, several of the students on the Kenya trip were in South Africa for Dr. Stokes’ Biology 485, a field biology course concentrating on management and conservation of African wildlife. For more on that course, CLICK HERE.

In early June, biology professor Keith Phillips took several students to Ghana in West Africa to study insects as part of a National Science Foundation grant. The project will intensively survey insects from ecosystems and habitats in Ghana that are the most vulnerable in the world and are quickly vanishing. For more on that work, CLICK HERE.

Students participating in the Kenya trip are:

Others participating are:

The Trip
Spending three weeks in Africa won't be a typical summer vacation.

The WKU group will cross the southern portion of Kenya from Kisumu on Lake Victoria in the west to the port city of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean in the east. In between, the group will visit the Masai Mara National Reserve and conduct research in and around the Taita Taveta District near Tsavo National Park. For a map, CLICK HERE.

The Masai Mara is the northern extension of the Serengeti, one of the world’s best known ecosystems for wildlife. In Mombasa, students will collect samples necessary for using molecular techniques to determine how much bushmeat is making its way to meat markets in the coastal city.

A Summary of the Kenya Project

Objective: To assist in developing a sustainable, ecologically-sound wildlife-based and ecotourism-based economic model on the community-owned Kasigau Ranch in southeast Kenya, with the goals of reducing poaching, increasing the sense of enfranchisement of these communities, and producing a model economic system for similar rural communities in Kenya. Kenya is heading towards legal, consumptive use of wildlife after 30 years of banned use, but economic pressures threaten sustainability of some wildlife populations and the natural migrations of wildlife for which East Africa is famous. The risk is very real that local communities may become disenfranchised as lucrative contracts for the wildlife on their lands are purchased without their participation. Planning hunting and tourism-related activities in an ecologically-sound manner will be essential for the well-being of local communities and the wildlife on their lands.

Approach: Little official research on the ecological effects of consumptive wildlife use in Kenya is planned or has been done, which lack may lead to disastrous consequences for rural communities and their ecosystems. WKU faculty and students will work closely with students and faculty of the University of Nairobi, the East African NGO Youth for Conservation, and residents of the Kasigau District to: 1) survey their ranch and its wildlife, which are in the migration corridor between Tsavo East and West National Parks, in order to establish areas for wildlife preserves, areas for agriculture, areas for ecotourism, and areas which may be potentially hunted in the future; 2) help plan a small ecotourism facility, to include a ‘green’ lodge, tented camp, and a research facility for visiting scholars; 3) survey local and regional meat markets to establish the illegal bushmeat stream in the area; 4) assess levels of snaring (poaching) in the region; 5) conduct pre-planning surveys on local attitudes towards wildlife, consumptive use, and tourism; 6) produce educational materials for the local communities promoting wildlife conservation; and 7) conduct post-planning and education surveys on attitudes toward wildlife, tourism and public policy on these topics.

Expected results: Undergraduate and graduate students from WKU will be teamed with Kenyan students to fulfill community service requirements, complete research theses and master’s theses, and develop the growing research relationship between the University of Nairobi and WKU. In the process, they will produce an economically-sound and ecologically-sound, sustainable, wildlife utilization model for rural Kenyan communities, and potentially for rural communities in the United States.