Over spring break, nine students from the Office of Undergraduate Programs at the Columbia Climate School traded the classroom for the field, traveling to South Africa to tackle real-world conservation challenges in one of the planet’s most biodiverse regions.
They went through the Ecosystem Restoration in South Africa course (SDEV 3820), partnering with Wild Tomorrow, a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing ecosystems and supporting community development in KwaZulu-Natal. Based at the Greater Ukuwela Nature Reserve, students worked alongside local experts and conservation practitioners—watching habitat management up close, and seeing the messier side of ecology: human–wildlife conflict in surrounding communities. One day sticks in the memory because it wasn’t just theory on paper. There was the constant bustle of fieldwork, and somewhere nearby the steady, practical sounds of people moving through the landscape.
Throughout the week, the group pushed into day-to-day conservation realities. They conducted vegetation surveys and biodiversity monitoring, assisted with wildlife transects, and participated in bird ringing—learning data collection methods that sit at the backbone of conservation science. They also did things that sound simple until you’re standing there trying to do them: invasive species removal, time in the Sand Forest Restoration Nursery, and the careful stewardship those fragile environments demand. Even the security side of the job came into view, too. Joining rangers on snare patrols and observing K9 anti-poaching demonstrations offered a clearer sense of the ongoing threat of poaching.
At Manyoni Private Game Reserve, one of Wild Tomorrow’s conservation partners, students witnessed a rhino dehorning procedure. It’s a contested but widely used intervention aimed at deterring poachers—and being there made it hard to keep conservation debates abstract. Not everything was hands-on wildlife work, either. Equally central to the course was understanding the role of local communities in conservation success. Through visits to nearby villages and conversations with residents, students saw how grassroots initiatives shape restoration efforts, and how livelihoods, land use, and conservation goals are tied together in a way that can’t be separated.
Aphiwe Notshaya, Wild Tomorrow’s community conservation manager, said working closely with neighboring groups reveals how deeply people are connected to the land and how it is part of their identity. She also noted how encouraging it was to see students engage seriously with these realities and think about ways to support meaningful, sustainable change. “For me, that’s what conservation is all about: When we uplift communities, we create a future where both people and wildlife can truly thrive, together,” Notshaya said.
That people-centered framing also shifted how students talked about sustainability back at the start—though honestly, it took a bit of time for it to fully land. Katie Figueroa Beltran, an environmental biology major, said her research background gave her a strong understanding of biodiversity and climate, but that the sustainability portion of the course stood out to her. “It surprised me because of its involvement in creating something for people and by people,” she said.
While her department emphasizes the importance of biodiversity for Earth’s systems and life, “taking this class helped me see that humans benefit just as much, or even more, from biodiversity.” Experiences like sharing a traditional IsiZulu meal in a local home helped ground those ideas, connecting the big conservation concepts to everyday life. And the course didn’t stop there: students in two groups also worked on client-based problem solving, developing recommendations for Wild Tomorrow designed
to address on-the-ground challenges while supporting long-term restoration goals, including work on plastic pollution and tree conservation.
The trip widened further still. At Kusasa, Wild Tomorrow’s eco-lodge, students explored how ecotourism can support environmental protection and promote conservation awareness. Beyond the reserve, they explored Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, a key site in the history of rhino conservation, before traveling to Johannesburg, where visits to the Apartheid Museum and Soweto added social and historical context to the environmental issues they were studying.
After spring break, the students returned to Columbia, ready to translate their field experience into a final report and presentation for both Wild Tomorrow and the Columbia community—carrying forward insights molded by both observation and hands-on experience. For some, the course reshaped their understanding of sustainability on a global scale. Kathryn McNerney, an Earth sciences major, said it highlighted the importance of context in conservation. “Sustainable efforts are far from universal and need to be specialized to context,” she said. “This means evaluating what needs to be protected in each place, as well as understanding the social and economic realities of the communities involved.” And honestly, it’s the kind of lesson that doesn’t fully wrap up in a single week—more like something you keep replaying every time you think about what “restoration” is supposed to mean.
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