“I am a university student from Zambia trying to obtain my Ph.D. in animal ecology.  Is there any grant or scholarship you offer that can help me with payment for school?”

-Jeremiah, Karasburg, Zambia, Southern Africa

Yes! AWF is committed to improving the capacity of Africans for conservation management in Africa. For African nationals seeking their Masters or Ph.D. degrees in conservation biological sciences, AWF has created the Charlotte Conservation Fellows Program and each year, we support a selected number of outstanding post-graduate students through our fellowship. In fact, we are getting ready to announce our new class of Fellows any day. I’ll be sure to post the names as soon as they are officially announced.

Gettin’ down to business: AWF’s Zambezi Heartland team, headed up by 2006-2007 Charlotte Conservation fellow Jimmiel Mandima (seated in red cap) in a planning session. (Photo Credit ©: African Wildlife Foundation)

Since AWF was founded in 1961, we have always held that Africans are the rightful stewards of Africa’s natural resources. As resources can be very limited to achieve this goal, AWF created the fellowship to help give as big a leg up to African students working in field conservation and sustainable development as possible. Created in 1996 in tribute to late philanthropist and conservationist, Charlotte Appleton Kidder Ramsay, AWF offers scholarships for full MSc. or partial Ph.D. programs with field research components relating to conservation challenges. Each year, the Charlotte Fellows supports up to five fellows and since its inception, the fellowship has helped more than 40 students from East, West, Central and Southern Africa pursue graduate degrees in varying fields of conservation sciences.

Although selection for our 2009 fellows class is over, please visit us here to learn more and here to take a look at the application process and to learn about eligibility (which changes each year). If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact the fellowship directly at charlottefellowship@awfke.org.

Wait! Before You Go…

In my very first blog post I let you all know that as much as I love animals, one species in particular holds the key to my heart: the African wild dog. As a dog lover, I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you all that October is the official Adopt-A-Dog month. Now, as much as I totally support you going down to your local animal shelter to rescue the newest member(s) of your family, I also don’t want you to forget Africa’s doggies, either. After the lion, African wild dogs are the second most hunted carnivore in Africa. At one time as many as half a million wild dogs roamed in 39 African nations, now their numbers fall between 3,000-5,000 in fewer than 15 countries. So join the pack and help AWF help the African wild dog by adopting Kerubo or an acre (or more) of land via our adoption center or by taking action and supporting AWF’s African Wild Dog Conservation Program.