New Job- Bringing Back the Blog

Well I haven’t posted on here in well over a year, but there hasn’t been much megatransect-ing happening for the past year either. I’ve been in the U.S. working, saving $$ and paying student loans, and job searching. Well that has all come to a close because….I have a new job! Most of you reading this most likely saw it on my Facebook page already, but I am the new Program and Development Director for the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program. This position is much more conservation-focused than others that I’ve had, as I won’t be doing any field work or data collection. Instead I will be managing GPOCP’s various conservation projects- working directly with the Indonesian staff, planning and strategizing, writing grants and communicating with stakeholders. I’m really excited; I’ve only met a couple of people that I’ll be working with on Skype but they seemed very knowledgeable and excited about working together, and I can’t wait to meet them in person! If you’re interested in the conservation projects, check out the “Conservation” links on the GPOCP website. There is a lot of great work happening, ranging from environmental education to assisting with investigations of illegal orangutan trade in the area. I’m sure I’ll write about each of the projects and programs more in depth at some point, but that’s a good overview.

I’ll be moving to Borneo (the western province, Kalimantan Barat) next month- leaving June 17th, to be exact! Needless to say, since I got the job I’ve been very busy trying to get everything in order- finishing up students at my current job, making sure I get new visa pages in my passport, scheduling doctor and dentist appointments before my insurance runs out in August, trying to find new international medical insurance… the list goes on. In a couple of weeks I’ll be heading out to Boston to meet Dr. Cheryl Knott, the Executive Director of the program, for training and to get a jump start on reports and grants that need to be written.

Long story short: Moving to Borneo. New (awesome and perfect) job. Bringing the blog back at the request of my family. Stay tuned for adventures in orangutan conservation and Indonesian wanderings!