KOINONIA SCHOLARSHIP WINNER AUSTIN AARON ’19

Two years ago on a wildlife veterinary internship, BSC student Austin Aaron discovered his passion: protecting and caring for African animals. Now a scholarship from the college is helping him pursue his dream.

Aaron, a senior Urban Environmental Studies major, has been awarded Birmingham-Southern College’s 2019 Koinonia Scholarship, which will support his environmental studies internship to South Africa during the January Exploration Term. Aaron will spend three weeks rehabilitating orphaned rhinoceroses, learning how to stop illegal hunting and trapping, checking population gene pools, and relocating animals. He’ll work in Nelspruit, South Africa, with the African Conservation Experience, a London-based group that connects volunteers with wildlife rehabilitation opportunities, on his contracted project called “Orphaned Rhino Rehabilitation and Population Management.”

“E-terms are really cool just because they give you the option to further your career,” Aaron said. “They give you a foot in the door with want you want to do in your life, and give you a head start that other colleges don’t. This internship is going to be a huge resume builder.”

Aaron first became interested in animal preservation when he visited South Africa’s Limpopo region two years ago during a wildlife veterinary internship, where he got to participate in an emergency anti-poaching cleanup -- which included six rhinos, including two babies. He is currently working at the Birmingham Zoo, monitoring the pacing habits of a red panda to inform the design of the panda’s new habitat.

After he graduates, Aaron hopes to work at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which hosts research and conservation efforts for rhinos, elephants, and other animals it houses. Ultimately, he wants to move to Botswana to set up his own anti-poaching foundation.

The Koinonia Scholarship provides financial support to a student or group of students whose independently-contracted E-Term project concentrates on service issues in the global community. Previous recipients have interned with a public health clinic in Bolivia and volunteered with a wildlife sanctuary in Belize.