So What Am I Doing Here Anyway?

I applied for a Fulbright Fellowship to be here at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology last year. I decided that Tanzania would be a great place to do a Fulbright, and so I sent out emails to universities here. Prof. Anna Treydte at NM-AIST answered my email and got an invitation letter from the Vice Chancellor in just a week. This is a Teaching/Research position, but it’s a graduate school so teaching will be very different than at home. I’ll either teach workshops or classes on restoration, savanna ecology or experimental design and statistical analysis.

I also developed a research proposal to determine techniques to use to restore a savanna ecosystem after removal of the invasive tree, Prosopis julifloria. This tree is considered one of the worst invasive species in the world. It was introduced in the 1980s in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Australia, and Indonesia. Another Fulbrighter who I met in Chicago at our pre-departure orientation was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal and told me that the forestry technicians planted. . . yes . . . Prosopis juliflora.

Planting grasses rather than shrubs or trees after removal of the invasive will probably lead to better outcomes. Grasses have a fibrous root system and generally take up soil water before it has a chance to percolate down to the roots of trees, making it very competitive. However, an interesting point is that replacing a tree with a grass has implications for climate change. Carbon sequestration in grasslands is most likely lower than in a savanna or woodland. So, an interesting ecological question is how much better do restoration outcomes need to be to consider using a grass instead of a native tree or shrub?

The image is of the campus. My office is in the main building with the five wings. My house is across the street from the hostel. The hostel is where the M.Sc. students stay. Ph.D. students stay in the houses as duplexes, and faculty stay in individual houses.

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