An NIU professor will call Namibia home for 12 days. Namibia is a developing country in southern Africa that borders Botswana and Angola.

Bora Simmons, of the department of teaching and learning, will be teaching a two-week applied environmental education course.

“It’s primarily for Namibians who are non-formal environmental educators,” Simmons said. “They are people who work for various conservation organizations like the Cheetah Conservation Fund or the national parks in Namibia.”

The class is organized and funded by the Smithsonian Institution, which approached Simmons because of her experience with international teaching workshops.

“The Smithsonian runs programs in various countries all over the world, and Namibia has been one of the target areas for education and a number of other projects that they work with,” Simmons said. In the past she has worked with the Smithsonian on similar trips to Taiwan and China.

The Smithsonian chose Namibia because it has considerable natural and wildlife resources and also a growing eco-tourism trade which impact those resources. Simmons and her team will work with Namibians who attended the same course last year and who will serve as assistant instructors this year.

“We’re going to be training them so that in future years they’ll be able to run similar courses themselves,” Simmons said. “I love it; it’s very rewarding and personally it’s really interesting to visit other countries and work with professionals there. It’s also rewarding to help teach a course like this so hopefully you’re adding to people’s ability to conserve the environment.”

The Study Abroad office can be reached by phone at 753-0304 or online at:

www3.niu.edu/niuabroad/about.htm