Gorongosa 2024-FULL-FINAL - Flipbook - Page 56
Students of the Wild
Hands-on fieldwork, cutting-edge science,
and baboons who steal your lunch
BY K AT HA R I NE G AMM ON
ITO BANDE HAS ALWAYS been drawn to water. After completing undergraduate
studies in aquaculture at the Gaza Polytechnic Institute in Chokwe, Mozambique,
he interned with the federal agency that manages all conservation areas in the
country. But that was an office job, and Bande felt the itch to be in the field. So,
when applications opened up for the two-year Master’s in Conservation Biology program at
Gorongosa National Park, during which students live, study, and work in one of the largest
national parks on the African continent, he leapt at the chance. Now he is using invertebrates
as an indicator of water health to study the impact of land use on water quality.
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