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Water and Community Health

In this semiarid region, water comes and goes. During the rainy season, lakes, ponds, and rivers provide plenty of water for the people, livestock, and wildlife that live here. As the dry season progresses these bodies of water start to disappear, and water quality declines. The formerly nomadic Samburu now mostly live on group-owned ranches or small farms, which has changed the ecosystem. Grass cover has declined due to intense grazing by livestock (cows, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys), which has led to increased soil erosion. Less soil depth means that less subsurface water can be stored, and, even though… more

Water and Community Health

In this semiarid region, water comes and goes. During the rainy season, lakes, ponds, and rivers provide plenty of water for the people, livestock, and wildlife that live here. As the dry season progresses these bodies of water start to disappear, and water quality declines. The formerly nomadic Samburu now mostly live on group-owned ranches or small farms, which has… more

Trip at-a-glance

Price: From $3,649* per person
Lodging: all_inclusive
When: February, March, May, July, August, November
Number of days: 14
Group size: 10

This trip is offered by:

Earthwatch Institute

Call them at 800-776-0188 about this trip and mention you saw it at TravelDragon, or contact them.

Trip details

You will work with Dr. Alexander Njue and Dr. Kiplagat Kotut, specialists in aquatic and plant ecology with experience collecting data on wetlands from Lake Naivasha, Kenya, to Lake Tahoe, California. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, you will help Njue and Kotut generate a digital map of the ecoregion detailing springs, rivers, pools, and dams and their seasonal variations, quality, and aquatic biodiversity. Driving to most sites, you will use a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, topographic maps, and satellite images to locate and record various water bodies. At each site, you will help collect water samples for analysis of chemistry, bacterial counts, and identification of phytoplankton and zooplankton to assess aquatic ecology. Teams will also assist in surveys of wildlife and monitoring video surveillance cameras to identify use of water resources by wildlife and livestock. In addition to your daily glimpses of African wildlife, you will also go on wildlife drives in nearby reserves.

Earthwatch will bring you together with the Principal Investigators, research technicians, students and the community to collect information necessary for developing conservation and management strategies essential for establishing legislation and other guidelines to save biological resources in the Samburu-Laikipia landscape. Such information will range from field based data collection, such as taking identity photographs of the Grevy’s zebras, measuring water quantity in dams or estimating range conditions, to lab based work, such as computer entry of the day’s fieldwork or pressing plant samples for taxonomic studies.

As an Eons member, you'll get a free, 1 year membership to Earthwatch — a $35 value — when you sign up on any expedition. And members pay $100 less on their expedition contribution — so you save $135! Just put code EONS2007 in the comment field on the signup form, or, if you call, tell the Expedition Coordinator that you found us on Eons.

Earthwatch expedition-related costs may be tax-deductible in the US as volunteer expenses. Please check with your tax adviser.

*TRAVEL INFORMATION DISCLAIMER: Travel product and pricing information are the travel provider’s base estimates, published here as a convenience to TravelDragon users without verification by TravelDragon. Your actual price will vary depending upon length of trip, travel dates, number of traveling guests, transportation (e.g. airfare, rail passes, etc.), and optional service features such as room categories or individualized food requirements. This base price estimate may or may not include all necessary fees, taxes, government-imposed surcharges. Be sure to confirm availability, total price and trip details with the travel provider using the contact information provided here.

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