Off to Kenya…

I am departing for Kenya tomorrow (June 12th) to attend the Global Livestock CRSP End of Program Conference “From Problem Models to Solutions,” held at the Sopa Lodge in Naivasha.  The conference is a capstone event of sorts for the GL-CRSP, the organization I have been working with since 2006, and will feature multiple presentations, key note addresses, and panel discussions on topics ranging from human health and nutrition, rangeland management and climate change, risk mitigation and pastoral development, and zoonotic disease and development.  I will be participating in the zoonotic disease and development panel, along with Pete Coppolillo of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Professor Rudovick Kazwala of the Sokoine University of Agriculture, and George Aning of the University of Ghana, Legon.

Pete Coppolillo demonstrating some raptor skills…

I am very lucky to be a part of such a commendable panel.  Dr. Coppolillo directed the Ruaha Landscape Program for the WCS, a program that enabled the Health for Animals and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) project of the GL-CRSP to really focus on zoonotic disease in the Ruaha ecosystem at the Wildlife-Livestock-Human interface.  Dr. Coppolillo is now the Director of the Yellowstone Rockies Program for WCS.  Dr. Kazwala is one of the world’s leading authorities on tuberculosis and bovine tuberculosis, working with multiple agencies including the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization on policies and programs for emerging zoonotic diseases.  I was fortunate to meet Dr. Kazwala through my research with HALI, and he has been of tremendous support and encouragement in helping HALI to thrive in their work on bovine tuberculosis and other zoonoses in Tanzania.  Both Dr. Coppolillo and Dr. Kazwala are Co-principal Investigators for the HALI project.  I am not familiar with Dr. Aning, but understand he is a veterinarian and an authority on avian influenza and poultry disease, especially village poultry.

Professor Kazwala at the Envirovet Institute in his swimmies!

I hope to record the panel discussion in order to post it on the blog as a podcast, and will be interacting with several individuals at the conference to capture video interviews, podcasts, and record presentations for the GL-CRSP website, which I will link to here.

I am returning to the US on the 22nd of June, just in time to start with all data analysis and development of the thesis, now that I have integrated all the data into a working database.  If possible, I’ll try to post a short article on the conference and events in Kenya, along with a synopsis of the zoonotic disease panel discussion.