For their Senior Independent Projects (SIPs), Nick Brandmeyer \u201925 and Beni Maly \u201925 traveled to South Africa to learn firsthand about the fight against wildlife poaching \u2014 and returned determined to educate others.<\/p>\n
Nick\u2019s project focuses on raising awareness about the imbalance between poachers and wildlife rangers. Initially planning a backpacking trip, Nick shifted gears when the opportunity to travel to South Africa arose. \u201cIt was a huge step outside my comfort zone, and I took a chance, and I\u2019ve never once regretted it,\u201d he shared. His project draws on what he learned in South Africa \u2014 through dog vaccinations, game drives, presentations, tracking exercises, and helicopter patrols \u2014 to help educate others about poaching and the urgent need for greater support, funding, and awareness.<\/p>\n
Beni\u2019s SIP centers on creating a short documentary about rhino poaching, using footage he captured during the trip. After learning about and making a connection with alumnus Mickey Carroll \u201908 and his organization in South Africa, Soldiers for Wildlife \u2014 thanks to Director of College Counseling Slade Mead \u2014 Beni quickly immersed himself in the issue. His goal is to spread awareness in a \u201cmodernized\u201d way to younger audiences who may not typically engage with conservation topics. Through firsthand experiences \u2014 working alongside rangers, flying helicopter patrols, helping at rehabilitation centers, and supporting veterinary efforts in local villages \u2014 Beni saw the raw realities of wildlife conservation, shaping not just his project but his entire perspective.<\/p>\n
Both students credit the experience with not only shaping their projects but also changing their perspectives. \u201cIt was life-changing without exaggeration,\u201d Beni reflected. Nick added, \u201cI think every student should have the chance to go on a trip to South Africa and do the work I did \u2014 it was life-changing.\u201d Their work stands as a testament to the power of stepping outside one\u2019s comfort zone and making a difference.<\/p>\n
by Missy McCluskey<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For their Senior Independent Projects (SIPs), Nick Brandmeyer \u201925 and Beni Maly \u201925 traveled to South Africa to learn firsthand about the fight against wildlife poaching \u2014 and returned determined to educate others. Nick\u2019s project focuses on raising awareness about the imbalance between poachers and wildlife rangers. Initially planning a backpacking trip, Nick shifted gears […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2025"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"SIPS ON THE FRONTLINES OF CONSERVATION","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5827,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5794\/revisions\/5827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}