Anthropology Students Travel to West Africa for Environmental Research

KENNESAW, Ga. (Sep 25, 2018) — A Kennesaw State director and associate professor, accompanied by three undergraduate students traveled to the West African country of Guinea-Bissau as a part of a collaborative environmental research program in July earlier this year.

Brandon Lundy Guinea Bissau 2018Dr. Brandon D. Lundy, associate professor of anthropology and associate director of the School for Conflict Management, Peacebuilding and Development said he invited three students to travel with him to Guinea-Bissau this past summer to take part in an innovative undergraduate research program with the Department of Geography and Anthropology. Participating students included Sami Wilson, Rachel Langkau and Kamran Sadiq.

Due to violent conflict in the country of Guinea-Bissau in the late 1990s, the U.S. Embassy and other organizations, such as the Peace Corps, suspended operations within the country. Due to a lacking U.S. Embassy in Guinea-Bissau, Lundy said he had to coordinate with the U.S. Ambassador for Senegal in order to travel and study in the country.

Lundy said his team was the first U.S. involved educational-cultural initiative green-lighted by the U.S. Embassy to travel to Bissau since renewing operations in 2014.

“One of the goals of this project was to take undergraduate students here who are interested in environmental issues and pair them up with students in places like Guinea-Bissau, who are also interested in environmental issues so they can learn from each other,” Lundy said.

Read the full article in the KSU Sentinel by Amy Casto, published on September 24, 2018. 

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