When telling people that I will be studying abroad in Tanzania this semester, a question I am often asked is “Why do you want to go there??”  My answer, quite simply, is the wildlife.  As many of you may or may not know, Tanzania is home to many of the legendary ecosystems featured in African specials on the Discovery Channel such as the Serengeti grasslands, the Ngorongoro Crater, and Mount Kilimanjaro.  As a Wildlife and Fisheries Science major here at Penn State, I could not pass up the opportunity to go out and experience these unique areas for myself.

I will be traveling to Tanzania this semester with the School for Field Studies (SFS) Wildlife Management Program.  They run a field station in northern Tanzania which does research to help resolve the rising conflicts between the local people and the native wildlife.  As a part of the program, I will be taking the following courses: Wildlife Ecology, Techniques of Wildlife Management, Environmental Policy and Socioeconomic Values, and Introduction to Swahili Language and East African Tribal Communities.  Towards the end of the semester, I will be applying what I learned in these courses by participating in Directed Research to help solve some of wildlife issues in the community.

As the countdown to my departure this Sunday continues, I find myself both anxious and excited.  My anxiety arises from the fact that Tanzania is still a third world country and I will be leaving my friends, family, and culture here in the United States.  Despite this, I am very excited to embark on this adventure of a lifetime and to figure out who I really am by experiencing a country and culture very different than my own.  I hope to learn not only about wildlife and Africa during my experience, but myself too.

Over the next several months, I plan to share with you the unique wildlife I encounter, aspects of Tanzanian culture, and the changes I find in myself as this experience molds my life.

My name is Robert J Ritson Jr.  I am a Wildlife and Fisheries Science major at The Pennsylvania State University.  I am and Eagle Scout, an avid hunter, and a skilled outdoorsman.  I have never been outside of the United States for more than two weeks nor have I been past the Prime Meridian or below the Equator.  This is who I am, for now.

Location: Limerick, PA