Destinations & Discovery - Botswana: A Far Off Place
Cavalier Travels invites you to join us for a virtual journey into the wilds of the Okavango Delta and across the deep sands of the Kalahari as we explore and unravel the timeless relationship between nature, wildlife, and the people who call Botswana home.
Join UVA’s Karen McGlathery, professor of Environmental Sciences and director of UVA’s Environmental Resilience Institute, and Nic Proust, a naturalist guide and conservation ecologist from Cape Town, South Africa, as they share their enthusiasm for and expertise on this wondrous African country.
“I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy.” -— Ernest Hemingway
The Zoom link will be sent via email before the event.
About Karen McGlathery
Professor of Environmental Sciences and Director of UVA’s Environmental Resilience Institute
Karen McGlathery also leads the Virginia Coast Reserve Long Term Ecological Research program, based at UVA’s Coastal Research Center on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Her research focuses on the effects of climate and land use on coastal marine habitats, and she has led large interdisciplinary projects that develop strategies for coastal resilience. In addition to Virginia, she and her students have worked in New England, Florida, Bermuda, Denmark, New Zealand, and Mozambique. Before coming to UVA in 1996, Karen received her B.S. from Connecticut College, her Ph.D. from Cornell University, and worked as a program officer for the Earthwatch Institute and as a Research Fellow at the University of Copenhagen and Danish Ministry of the Environment. She was inspired to study the ocean by a sea-faring British grandfather. Karen has led Cavalier Travels trips to the Galapagos Islands and Tanzania, Africa.
About Nic Proust
Naturalist Guide
Nic is native to Cape Town and grew up on the slopes of Table Mountain, learning to love the wild beauty of the Cape and all of the life within it. He earned a degree in Ecology and Earth and Geographic Sciences at the University of Cape Town and a post-graduate degree with honors in Zoology from Stellenbosch University. His academic expertise has given him the opportunity to have a hands-on role in conservation work, most notably with the reintroduction of over 50 black and white rhinos in Botswana. His studies are also an invaluable feature of his tours, where he has the unique ability to provide a range of insight into what travelers in his care encounter on the road. After a 5-year tenure in the Okavango as a conservation ecologist, Nic spent 12 years guiding wildlife safaris throughout Southern Africa. He has a passion for wildlife, sharing his experiences, and the wonders of the bush through his guiding, photography, and conservation blog.