Moving to Zambia

I have decided that receiving an amazing offer of a position at a baboon research project is reason enough to finally create (and stick to!) a blog!

Me with Poppy, an orphaned Chacma baboon (Papio ursinus), in South Africa in 2010.

My name is Aileen Sweeney and I am a recent (ahem, technically still yet to happen due to Uni pushing back graduation ceremonies...) zoology graduate from University College Cork in Ireland. I consider myself Irish despite being born and raised in Australia until I was 13. I have always had a passion for wildlife and the natural world around me, however it wasn't until my late teens that I realised this passion very much focused around conservation. I spent four years studying zoology, while volunteering for the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011 at primate rehabilitation centres in South Africa (more on them in a later post). This included completing my Literature Review project on the genus Chlorocebus, as well as my Bachelor's thesis on infant vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) behaviour in a rehabilitation centre. My passion for wildlife has definitely become focused on primates. While I can technically call myself a "scientist", "biologist", "environmentalist", "zoologist" or probably even "ecologist" now, there are two more specific titles I hope to earn the right to use: "conservationist" and most importantly "primatologist". I think this next year will bring me both of those titles!

Kasanka Baboon Research Project, Zambia.

Having completed my degree and unsuccessfully applying for a Masters degree in Germany (despite achieving a first class honours degree- it was probably one of the biggest shocks/disappointments I've ever experienced) I became stumped as to what to do next. I didn't want to simply apply for other Masters, as if I didn't have enough interest to apply for them in the first place, why would I now?! Instead I decided to "hang tight", knowing that something would come my way and all would fall into place as it should. I travelled to Italy to au pair for a family for the summer and while there I came across an advert for a job in Zambia as Camp Manager at Kasanka Baboon Research Project. It was a real "this is it" moment for me. 

So after putting together my application and contacting referees for references (one of which referred to me as "somewhat monkey mad"- definitely helped me get the job!) I sent all the documents to Anna Wehyer, the Project's Founder and Director. About a week later (before the application deadline had even arrived!) I received an email inviting me to a Skype interview with Anna. On the day,we spoke for well over an hour and, not wanting to gear myself up for more disappointment, I decided to simply take from it that we were very like-minded people and primate research/conservation was definitely what I wanted to do. A few days later I received another email saying I had made it through to the final round of interviews and this time needed to speak with the current Camp Manager, Liz Winterton, so she could help Anna make the decision. I got on with Liz equally as well as I did with Anna, yet one again didn't allow myself to read into it too much other than we shared similar passions. However, three days later they offered me the job! I immediately burst into tears out of pure excitement and sheer terror! I really couldn't believe they had picked me, especially given both the experience and qualifications that I knew Liz had compared to mine. I am so excited, thankful and thrilled about this opportunity so soon after my BSc. 

So I'm currently in the crazy stage of preparing to leave- visas, work permits, flights, insurance, vaccinations, shopping...also brushing up on my knowledge of Zambia, baboons, field work etc. I will be flying out to Zambia barely 36 hours after my graduation ceremony on the 27th October. And then staying for a full year! Liz will be staying on until December with me to train me, and then after that it will be up to me to manage the project. It is technically a voluntary position as there is no salary (however all meals, lodging and travel costs are included), but the experience itself is payment enough! I will talk about the project in more detail later. Hopefully I will be able to keep this somewhat regularly updated, as I know there's a blog for the project that I will need to keep updated, as well as the Facebook Page- so two birds with one stone and all that!

I can't wait!!!

A group of Kinda baboons (Papio cynocephalus kindae) from the habituated troop I will be researching in Kasanka National Park.