Reflections from Uganda

From May 20 to July 27, 2015 I was in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda (QENP) studying its wildlife and ecology. Through those ten weeks I gained knowledge, experience, and memories I will carry with me through my academic and professional careers.

The journey started in September 2014 when my Emory advisor, Dr. Thomas Gillespie, introduced me to one of his top collaborators and friends Dr. Innocent Rwego at One Health Central and Eastern Africa (OHCEA). He suggested the possibility of a collaborative research experience. I was particularly interested in this opportunity because I have always wanted to do research in a Sub-Saharan country and I also believe One Health studies are new and invaluable to the scientific community. So soon thereafter, I applied for Emory’s International Research Experience for Science Students (IRES) fellowship and was awarded the research grant a few months later.

In Uganda, I joined Makerere University’s masters student Erick Bigala Kigai who was interested in the wild rodents associated with QENP and their role in the transmission of a group of bacteria called Leptospira. This bacterium is known to cause a disease called leptospirosis in humans (Plank and Dean 2000). Rodents are one of the major reservoirs for the bacterium, and transmission from rodents to livestock or humans is possible and quite simple (de Faria et al. 2008). Often times, humans contract Leptospira after a rodent urinates on a food or water source. Livestock can also contract the disease after eating grass a rodent has contaminated. Rodents are commonly found near human communities, so Erick and I set rodent traps in different areas with close QENP-community interface.Through my conversations and collaborations with Erick, the OHCEA staff, professors, and local community members, I learned much more than I ever expected to gain in just seventy days. One of most abundantly clear lessons I learned from my trip was fieldwork’s unpredictable nature. Travel logistics can unexpectedly change, budgets can drastically shift, and a study can take a new direction all in a matter of hours. At Kahendero, despite our strategic and well-thought-out planning, the first few days of collecting were unfruitful. Erick and I decided to completely change our trap design, and we relocated all 50 traps in new locations around the park and community. At Kataara, our trap lines were very productive. We caught significantly more rodents there than at the first location – we did not expect this. Due to the lack of consistency between field sites, we began to run out of formalin, which we used to preserve the specimens for speciation and future studies. Without this important chemical, we would have to stop our work until we found some. And this scenario almost was a reality, until Erick thought to visit a local secondary school that was able to provide a small amount of formalin that lasted us a few days until we acquired more. These situations were new and foreign to me, and now that I have had this experience, I can use the knowledge I gained and apply it to my research and studies at Emory

OHCEA Research Assistant Benjamin and I interviewing a woman from the pastoral community of Hima about modern family planning method

My abroad experience was so important. I learned how you should never plan too far ahead in field research. Just as things get rolling, a large curve ball could throw your whole study off and delay you, in my case it was sometimes two weeks. As a result of a few delays, I did not end up completing what I intended to. I planned to trap rodents and perform PCR to detect Leptospira; this however, was not accomplished. Now, Erick and his team of dedicated research assistants will perform the molecular analysis to screen for Leptospira. While I was a little disappointed to not be with Erick to help him learn the molecular analysis, I am still very fortunate to gain many invaluable field work skills from Erick.

The sun setting on the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda as we head home after a successful safari day

I am extremely thankful for Emory’s IRES Fellowship, OHCEA, and people I’ve met and worked with along the way. I had the most incredible experience of my life and I will carry so many memories, skills, and lessons through the rest of my life. The trip made me think about my future regarding schooling. It reaffirmed my decision to pursue veterinary medicine, but my time in Uganda opened the doors to what part of vet med I want to follow. I’m looking forward to seeing what my future holds!

-Leo Ragazzo