Alumni Update:
Jenny Helm
Colby College ’11
Round River Namibia 2010
I feel incredibly lucky to be pursuing my passion for wildlife biology as a second-year Masters student in the Wildlife Biology Program at the University of Montana. I’m especially interested in quantitative wildlife ecology, which means that I enjoy using statistical modeling to understand and manage wildlife-related ecological processes.
For my thesis research, I’m collaborating with the National Park Service to study the interactions between humpback whales and large ships in southeast Alaska. During the school year, I take lots of statistics classes and work with my data in Montana, and then I spend the summer in southeast Alaska studying whale surfacing patterns from aboard cruise ships. Ultimately, I hope to pursue a career in academia or with an agency or nonprofit where I can focus on developing quantitative tools to assist with managing wildlife conservation issues while still maintaining a connection to active field research.
It has been well over six years since I traveled to Namibia on Round River’s student program. That said, it seems like only yesterday that our group of ten students and three leaders was sitting in a circle in the shade of mopane trees and discussing our readings for our Humans and the Environment and Applied Conservation Biology classes after a long day spent collecting data in the desert.
This program provided my first real experience conducting field research. Although I explored other career paths between then and now, including working for an environmental nonprofit as well as conducting clinical research, Round River gave me a hands-on foundation in ecological research that stuck with me and ultimately inspired me to pursue a related career.
Jenny (center left) in Namibia, 2010