Waterville, Maine - Welcome to Colby Athletics' summer spotlight series, where we take a look into what Colby student-athletes are working on over the summer break. Up next we have rising junior Ella Caraluzzi of Colby Women's Soccer. 

Over the past seven weeks, Ella served as an intern at the Cheetah Conservation Fund's (CCF) headquarters in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. CCF aims to save the cheetah from extinction by reducing human-wildlife conflict and promoting coexistence through community-based conservation programs. During her time there, Ella researched human-wildlife conflict with a focus on the ecological consequences of predator loss, analyzing various case studies and datasets that suggest predators are critical for maintaining healthy predator-prey relationships, reducing disease transmission, and preventing mesopredator release.

Additionally, Ella collaborated with the education team to curate presentations highlighting the outreach program's impact on Namibian students and their perceptions of human-wildlife conflict. She is currently analyzing pre and post-surveys of students who visited CCF to evaluate the program's effectiveness. Ella's experience also included shadowing numerous veterinary procedures—most notably a full health workup on a cheetah named Tupuka prior to his release into the wild—as well as assisting the ecology team with camera trapping and game counts to measure biodiversity within the reserve.

Furthermore, Ella engaged with CCF's livestock guarding dog program, which offers farmers a non-lethal solution to human-wildlife conflict. She helped care for the dogs while studying how the animals are trained to prevent attacks from predators like leopards and cheetahs, as well as avoid environmental threats such as snakes.

"My time at CCF has reinvigorated my passion for wildlife conservation and strengthened my desire to pursue a career in the field," said Caraluzzi. "I loved getting to meet and work with people who are passionate about what they do. I also loved being surrounded by nature and walking past cheetahs every day on my way to work. Playing pickup soccer after work and running within the reserve were great ways to connect with more people while exploring the surrounding landscape and wildlife. Getting to meet Dr. Laurie Marker and see her work firsthand was a dream come true. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work at CCF, and I hope to return one day soon."

Be on the lookout for more of our summer spotlight series.