Education Certificates for Sustainable Science
Donation protected
Successful scientific research requires the collaborative efforts of a team. At the heart of Mpala Research Centre (Lakipia, Kenya) are the dedicated staff and employees who support the array of projects based at the centre. Mpala staff are lab managers, logistics coordinators, security personnel, wildlife guides, livestock managers, and genomics research assistants – many with over a decade of experience living and working in local communities and natural landscapes. Despite their expertise and the important role in sustaining day-to-day science at the Research Centre, many staff members themselves do not have the official college or technical certificates needed in Kenya to increase opportunities for employment and career advancement within and beyond Mpala.
To address this certification gap, we are raising money for a joint-educational certificate program that Mpala Research Centre is developing in partnership with Karatina University . This certificate program will provide Mpala staff with Technical Certificates through a Kenyan institution for the expertise they already possess, as well as opportunities for advanced training. Through this program, staff members will be able to earn certificates by combining their work at Mpala and technical skill-based courses (GIS data collection & analyses, livestock management, hospitality management, database management, computer packages). Importantly, this provides the opportunity for Mpala staff to earn technical certificates without the constraint of full time college enrollment.
We are graduate students at Princeton University, who directly benefited from the skills and expertise of Mpala staff during our coursework at Mpala in January 2022. We are raising $10,000 for this program as a small way to give back to this community and support the ongoing and future training and certification of Mpala staff. All funds and the certificate application process will be handled directly by Mpala Research Centre.
We envision this as a small step to help make the process of science sustainable and to meaningfully support the careers and livelihoods of people in the communities in which we learn and work. We hope you will join us by making a donation and sharing with your networks. Thank you / Asante sana!
Mpala wildlife guides, security team, and staff members during a routine training session.The security team and staff provide invaluable support when it comes to ensuring the security and efficiency of researchers when they go out into the wild to collect data. In addition, they help with conservation efforts by minimizing human disruption of the conserved animal habitats that attract researchers to Mpala.
Mpala security and ranching team members Robert Kibet, Gabriel Ole Tair, James Lemboi and Stephen Moso (from left to right). Mpala is a working ranch and natural preserve, with cattle and camel herds coexisting with plains zebra, giraffe, elephants, brown mpala and more. Mpala staff learn to work with both livestock and wildlife.
Mpala auto-workshop team (top left) Peter Kariuki, Anthony Ngaina, Chrispinus Shakwirarwa, Erastus Mando and Joel Moret, (bottom left) Justin Chipa, Dedan Chira and Wamai. Mpala roads are rough and the mechanic team services the vehicles so that research doesn’t stop. On top of this, the workshop team also services some research scientific equipment when need be.
Mpala security team member John B. teaching Princeton EEB PhD student Sebastián Michel-Mata how to collect fecal samples for microbiome and diet molecular analysis of White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Plocepasser mahali). John B. has worked at Mpala for over 20 years.
Cover photo: Nicholas Kipsuny Lelemoi observing elephants in the distance in order to track their foraging behavior and diet preference. Nicholas and other Mpala staff are excellent botanists who have spent over 7 years surveying tree growth and survival across Mpala's savanna landscapes with the Smithsonian ForestGEO project.
For more information about the science and conservation at Mpala, visit:
- mpala.org
- mpalalive.org
To address this certification gap, we are raising money for a joint-educational certificate program that Mpala Research Centre is developing in partnership with Karatina University . This certificate program will provide Mpala staff with Technical Certificates through a Kenyan institution for the expertise they already possess, as well as opportunities for advanced training. Through this program, staff members will be able to earn certificates by combining their work at Mpala and technical skill-based courses (GIS data collection & analyses, livestock management, hospitality management, database management, computer packages). Importantly, this provides the opportunity for Mpala staff to earn technical certificates without the constraint of full time college enrollment.
We are graduate students at Princeton University, who directly benefited from the skills and expertise of Mpala staff during our coursework at Mpala in January 2022. We are raising $10,000 for this program as a small way to give back to this community and support the ongoing and future training and certification of Mpala staff. All funds and the certificate application process will be handled directly by Mpala Research Centre.
We envision this as a small step to help make the process of science sustainable and to meaningfully support the careers and livelihoods of people in the communities in which we learn and work. We hope you will join us by making a donation and sharing with your networks. Thank you / Asante sana!
Mpala wildlife guides, security team, and staff members during a routine training session.The security team and staff provide invaluable support when it comes to ensuring the security and efficiency of researchers when they go out into the wild to collect data. In addition, they help with conservation efforts by minimizing human disruption of the conserved animal habitats that attract researchers to Mpala.Mpala security and ranching team members Robert Kibet, Gabriel Ole Tair, James Lemboi and Stephen Moso (from left to right). Mpala is a working ranch and natural preserve, with cattle and camel herds coexisting with plains zebra, giraffe, elephants, brown mpala and more. Mpala staff learn to work with both livestock and wildlife. Mpala auto-workshop team (top left) Peter Kariuki, Anthony Ngaina, Chrispinus Shakwirarwa, Erastus Mando and Joel Moret, (bottom left) Justin Chipa, Dedan Chira and Wamai. Mpala roads are rough and the mechanic team services the vehicles so that research doesn’t stop. On top of this, the workshop team also services some research scientific equipment when need be.
Mpala security team member John B. teaching Princeton EEB PhD student Sebastián Michel-Mata how to collect fecal samples for microbiome and diet molecular analysis of White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Plocepasser mahali). John B. has worked at Mpala for over 20 years.Cover photo: Nicholas Kipsuny Lelemoi observing elephants in the distance in order to track their foraging behavior and diet preference. Nicholas and other Mpala staff are excellent botanists who have spent over 7 years surveying tree growth and survival across Mpala's savanna landscapes with the Smithsonian ForestGEO project.
For more information about the science and conservation at Mpala, visit:
- mpala.org
- mpalalive.org
Fundraising team (3)
Ruby An
Organizer
Princeton, NJ
Justin Sheen
Team member
Yeraldi Loera
Team member