Round River Botswana ’13
Jonathan Piazza grew up watching nature documentaries and dreaming of spending time in picturesque southern Africa. When he was encouraged by his advisor to study abroad, he knew he needed to find a program that would check Africa and its charismatic megafauna off his bucket list. After doing some research, he was convinced that RRCS’ Namibia or Botswana programs were the right option for him. Jonathan was accepted to the Fall 2013 Botswana program and the entirety of the experience was “life changing”.
In Botswana, Jonathan learned to be more environmentally conscious and to live more minimally. He saw how joyful people could be with so much less than our society tells us we need. He learned how to cherish the little things such as shared meals with friends and family, late night storytelling, and long drives just to see something “wild”.
His experience with RRCS in Botswana taught him to live minimally in the field, to read and discuss scientific papers, and to write with an immense amount of detail, skills that have given him an upper hand in seeking jobs and pursuing his passions. It also provided him with a plethora of stories: “While working on an exam in Maun, I felt what I thought was water hitting my head. I was outside and it was ~100F. I was confused and looked up. Above me was a vervet monkey sitting on a tree limb peeing on me and my exam.”
Jonathan now works as a food scientist for Lamb Weston. He picked up and left San Diego, CA after the birth of his first son and now lives in eastern Washington with his college sweetheart, two boys, Oliver and Theodore, and a 5 1/2-foot boa constrictor. When he is able to get away, Jonathan and his family head to Montana to spend time with friends and get into the backcountry.
For Jonathan, the future of conservation is living by example. That is why he teaches his children about the natural world and exposes them to lifestyles and places outside of their norm and their “home”. He regularly donates to organizations that have impacted him such as RRCS and Botswana Predator Conservation Trust. He immerses himself in the outdoors throughout the year to mentally reset and re-center. He believes “the future of conservation is educating those around you about the importance of the natural world, making changes to better the future of the natural world, and raising the next generation to be [its] stewards”.
