Northwest College Student Going to Tanzania

A Northwest College student will be spending her winter break collecting scientific information for her research – and to get it, she’ll be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Biology major Tawna Herrera will leave Christmas Day for a 27-day research expedition in the African nation of Tanzania.  She will help collect samples of soil from the unique microbiome that grows at the high elevations of Kilimanjaro. She will be using the skills she gained in Northwest College’s Idea Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence program.

She will spend a full two weeks of the 27-day trip on the mountain, but that doesn’t mean there’s no time to take in the local flavor. She will spend a week with the Masaai people, learning their culture and language, and go on safari to see the incredible animals roaming the savannahs.

Herrera’s trip is being conducted through the National Outdoor Leadership School with grant support from Colorado-Wyoming Alliance for Minority Participation, which supports and encourages participation in STEM education.