Location
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Wildlife in the Serengeti National Park, on a safari for ACM Tanzania students
Video courtesy of Kathleen Murphy-Geiss & Tim Lee
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Dar es Salaam
With a population of two million, Dar es Salaam is Tanzania's major city, port and business center. An increasingly cosmopolitan city, Dar es Salaam is a center for trade and communications along the east coast of Africa. Although Dodoma is officially Tanzania's capital and seat of the legislature, Dar es Salaam remains the nation's political center with many government offices and foreign embassies.
University of Dar es Salaam
The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania's premier university and the host institution of the ACM Tanzania Program, was established in 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Located on "The Hill" on the west side of Dar es Salaam, the University is about eight miles from the city center and occupies 1,625 acres. The University's professors have been educated around the world, and its admission standards are very selective. In general, undergraduate students at UDSM are in their early 20's, somewhat older than most American undergraduates.
Tarangire National Park (Northern Tanzania field site)
The main field site for the program is named for the Tarangire River, which provides the only permanent water source for local wildlife. The park encompasses 1,600 square miles and is a magnet during the dry season for large concentrations of elephants, buffaloes, wildebeests and zebras. Tarangire is also a permanent residence to mongoose, giraffes, lions, hyenas and many other species. Bird enthusiasts will find populations of eagles and owls. The park also has large areas of wetlands. Field practica topics at Tarangire are quite varied and have included: Thermal Characteristics of Burrows Created by the African Burrowing Wolf Spider, A Study of the Flocking Behavior and Interspecific Association of Starlings, and A Comparison Between the Biodiversity of Tarangire National Park and the Adjacent Maasai Lands.
Serengeti National Park
Students will also visit Serengeti National Park, which boasts the oldest ecosystem on the planet, containing an enormous variety of terrestrial wildlife, from large mammals to countless birds, reptiles and insects.
Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli
Nearby are Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli, which have been sites of paleo-anthropological research since the early 1900’s. Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli are part of East Africa’s “Rift Valley,” where volcanic and other sediments provide a layered record of the past two million years. Included in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Olduvai and Laetoli continue to be among the world’s most fertile sites for archaeological and paleoanthropological research.