South Africa is a complex country with the full spectrum of social, political, economic, and environmental issues. Just a decade out of apartheid, it is a country offering challenges and rewards unlike any other.

It was not enough to visit this mysterious and exotic country burgeoning with opportunities to study its diverse flora and fauna. The call of Africa too strong to ignore, I had to immerse myself fully in its dynamic culture and environment. Following completion of a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies at FIU, I journeyed to this far land to undertake an M.Sc. in Resource Conservation Biology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

My research compares the influence of varying environmental conditions on the activity patterns of grazing non-ruminants. The Earth is currently showing evidence of warming, and this climate variability may affect ungulates through influences on varying thermal conditions, or through its effect on the quality and biomass production of forage plants.

For example, the effect of severe cold may lead to a decrease in foraging time or to increased costs of thermoregulation, which is an animal’s ability to regulate body temperature within acceptable limits despite large variations in ambient conditions. Superimposed on these variations is the progression of the seasons, involving changes in the

day-night ratio, thermal variations, and associated changes in food availability and reproductive physiology.

Escalating climatic variation and shifts in climatic conditions associated with global climate change have major implications for behavioural adaptation of animals with respect to their environment. Continuous measurement of animal behaviour is useful in investigating the interaction between animals and their environment.

My research takes place in the Northwest Province on the grounds of the Lichtenburg Game Breeding Centre, a project of the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa . The Game Breeding Centre extends over an area of 4,500 hectares, and is home to Pére David’s deer, extinct in their natural habitat in China , and the rare pygmy hippopotamus. The vast grassland supports large herds of Burchell’s zebra, springbok, blue and black wildebeest, blesbok, red hartebeest, eland, impala and gemsbok, free-ranging horses, and the endangered scimitar-horned oryx, cape mountain zebra, addax and Arabian oryx. It is also home to white rhino, jackal, vultures, and ostrich, to name just a few. I have the unique opportunity to concentrate on equids, while

assisting another postgraduate student on a similar project on ruminants, specifically blesbok and black wildebeest. Results from this study will be relevant to the management of equids and could contribute greatly to the understanding of ecological limitations imposed on the species.

The cultural differences and extreme field conditions are a continuous challenge, yet my experiences while at FIU prepared me well for any challenge. I was exposed to environmental challenges facing South Florida through the faculty of Environmental Studies, as well as given the opportunity to work in the arctic as an REU with Dr. Steven Oberbauer of the Biological Science Department. I was given the unique opportunity as an undergraduate at FIU to attend a workshop in Norway and to participate in various organizations on campus, including Students for Environmental Action and the Marine Mammal Rescue Unit. It is this spirit of volunteering, which allowed me to meet the renowned chimpanzee researcher, Dr.Jane Goodall while here in South Africa , through my volunteer work with the Jane Goodall Foundation’s Roots and Shoots.

In Dr Nelson Mandela's words: 'If we do not do something to prevent it, Africa 's animals, and the places in which they live, will be lost to our world, and her children … forever .'