TEACHING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY ABROAD: THE NAMIBIAN ECOLOGICAL SAFARI

During the summer of 2005, Shoreline Community College offered a unique experience for Earth Science students: The Namibian Ecological Safari – a physical geography lab science course taught in Namibia in southwest Africa. Students participating in this program received credit for Geography 204, a second year undergraduate course (Climate, Weather and Ecosystems). Namibia is endowed with several distinct ecosystems including those associated with unique yet wide ranging climate and habitat conditions including: tropical savanna, tropical scrubland, coastal hyper-arid desert, extensive interior dune fields (sand sea) and gravel plains and arid mountains. Namibia, independent since 1990, maintains an extensive and preservation oriented National Park system and an emerging system of Tribal Community Conservancies. This summer abroad program took advantage of Namibia’s National Parks, tribal conservancies and research centers to investigate and experience the relationship between climate, biological communities and human activity.

Geography 204 focuses on weather processes and climate patterns, ecosystems and patterns of species distribution, and human interaction with these systems. While the course is global in perspective, Namibia provides excellent and dramatic examples all the major themes in the course. This program relied on extensive vehicular travel covering over 1800 miles in 23 days visiting 4 National Parks, the Gobabeb Desert Ecological Research Unit and the Abu Huab Conservancy. The course is a lab science course. Students completed 5 labs while in Namibia focusing on weather, climate, ecology and biogeography. Additionally, students engaged in classroom learning and field experience during the 3 weeks prior to departure for Namibia.

Namibia’s wide ranging climates and biomes, and the country’s extensive system of preservation, provided this program with many opportunities to study and experience the diversity of Namibia’s climate and wildlife, illustrating the importance of these resources and their preservation for the benefit of diverse populations.