AWF Names 5 African Scholars 2001-2002 Charlotte Fellows

The Charlotte Conservation Fellowship Program honors the memory of Charlotte Kidder Ramsay by helping young Africans pursue advanced studies in conservation-related fields. Candidates must be aged 21 to 40, have a letter of acceptance from an appropriate university and plan a study program directly linked to conservation. In addition, their work experience must demonstrate a commitment to conservation, and they must intend to continue working in African conservation.

In selecting candidates for this year's fellowships, AWF focused on the acute humanresource needs of Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia. Botswana, with its relatively small population and abundant resources, has relied heavily on the talents of expatriate conservationists. It is believed that Mozambique has only several people trained in wildlife conservation at the master's level. And many forget that Namibia, like South Africa, suffered from apartheid law, and the capacity of its indigenous people was not developed.

The African Wildlife Foundation has selected the following Charlotte Fellows for 2001-2002.

Sennye Ditshenyo is a wildlife officer with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in Botswana. She joined the department as an assistant wildlife officer after graduating with a bachelor of science degree in ecology from the University of Botswana. Based at the department's headquarters, she helps coordinate activities in six national parks and game reserves, concentrating on development and implementation of management plans. She is studying for a master's degree in environmental management at the University of Pretoria, focusing on how to manage social, economic and environmental processes in a sustainable manner.

Tessema Mekbeb Eshetu of Ethiopia is a wildlife expert with the coordination team of the Ethiopia Wildlife Conservation Organization. He holds a wildlife diploma from the College of African Wildlife Management in Mweka, Tanzania, and a diploma in forestry from Wondo Genet College of Forestry in Ethiopia. He implements wildlife development activities in the national park by promoting and regulating ecotourism. He is interested in the dynamics of conservation and its interrelation with communities bordering the parks, and will pursue a master's in conservation biology at the University of Kent at Canterbury, United Kingdom.

Josephine Henghali, one of the few Namibian women with a bachelor of science degree, is an extension officer with Namibia's Ministry of Agriculture. She is studying for a master's in biology at the University of Namibia, where her work focuses on the relationship between livestock management practices and habitat degradation and deforestation in the northern communal (Ovamboland) areas of Namibia. She received the Round River Conservation Studies Scholarship to conduct research and surveys for the Cheetah Conservation Fund, where she is learning biomedical skills and reproductive physiology from a veterinary technician.

Lihamba Samuel Boendi is deputy project coordinator for natural resources and community conservation with the World Wildlife Fund's Virunga Environmental Program in Democratic Republic of Congo, where he works with communities to rehabilitate vegetation and reduce human pressure in Virunga National Park. He was highly recommended for the conservation fellowship by the International Gorilla Conservation Program. Boendi, who received a diploma certificate in forestry engineering, is studying for a master's degree at the Institute of Ecology and Resource Management at the University of Edinburgh.

Catherine Sekgabo Motsatsi is an environmentalist with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks in her native Botswana. She currently is assistant wildlife officer in Gaborone, where she works with communities bordering the parks. Motsatsi received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Namibia and is studying for a master's in environment and society at the University of Pretoria, where she is researching how to manage human-environment interactions related to impact assessments and policy formulation.