Exploring Wildlife Conservation
in South Africa
Meet Your Instructors!
2026 Instructors
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Dr. Sonja Christensen is passionate about wildlife population health, bringing deep expertise in disease ecology and years of experience working with government agencies to guide science-based wildlife management. As a professor at Michigan State University, she leads research with important real-world implications for sustainability of ungulate populations. She works with stakeholder groups, provides guidance to fish and wildlife agencies, and loves getting her hands dirty with fieldwork — especially when it comes to capturing and collaring wildlife! Sonja is excited to share her commitment to conservation with you in one of the most extraordinary natural areas in the world.
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Dr. Elise Zipkin
Professor, Dept of Integrative Biology Program, Director, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior [email protected] Professor Elise Zipkin is a quantitative ecologist who researches how, where, and why biodiversity is declining. She works closely with management agencies to translate scientific results into practical conservation strategies. Although Professor Zipkin does most of her work on computers nowadays, she has experience doing fieldwork in North America, Africa, and Antarctica and is excited to share her knowledge with the next generation of conservation researchers and practitioners.
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Other Instructors
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Jerry Urquhart is a tropical wildlife ecologist and an avid naturalist, with a love of birds, mammals, insects, and other amazing organisms. His research combines basic science with applied conservation solutions to understand how human activity affects tropical biodiversity. He has led over 15 study abroad programs and received the Outstanding Service to Study Abroad Award!
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Jim Schneider, MSc
Undergraduate Program Coordinator & Senior Specialist, Dept of Fisheries & Wildlife [email protected] Jim Schneider is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and has been the Academic Advisor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at MSU for over 26 years. Jim’s visited 5 different African countries from over 16 trips to the continent and introduced hundreds of MSU students to this amazing part of our planet. Jim developed this incredible education abroad program to South Africa in 2003. Africa is Jim’s happy place. Hopefully it will become yours!
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