Meet the trip leaders

2009 Tanzania A leaders: Barrett Miles and Francesca Nicosia

FRANCESCA NICOSIA: DePauw University, B.A., Sociology & Anthropology, Conflict Studies, cum laude; University of Colorado Denver, M.A., Anthropology. During college, Francesca studied abroad in Northern India, Nepal, and Tibet with the School for International Training. After graduating, she was awarded a fellowship with Humanity in Action, where she researched human rights, culture, and immigration in Berlin before returning to work in DePauw's Anthropology Museum. Francesca first went to Tanzania in 2005-2006 and lived in a homestay on the slopes of Mt. Meru while she studied Swahili and backpacked through the Eastern Arc Mountains. She is currently finishing graduate school for Medical Anthropology, where her studies have focused on the relationship between health, culture, and the environment. Francesca lives in Denver, Colorado, where she recently completed her first documentary film. She is a certified yoga teacher. This will be Francesca’s third summer with Putney Student Travel. She has led Putney’s Global Awareness in Action India program and a Community Service program in Tanzania. Francesca is proficient in Swahili.

BARRETT MILES: St. Lawrence University, B.A., Environmental Studies, Economics, and African Studies. While at St. Lawrence, Barrett was active in the Outdoor Program as a student guide and was president of the Outing Club. His enthusiasm for the outdoors led him to paddle numerous Canadian rivers in the southern James Bay watershed. Barrett participated in St. Lawrence’s Kenya Semester Program. While there, he joined a Kenya Marine and Fisheries research team studying tropical mangrove ecosystems. During his senior year, he served as a student ambassador for the Kenya Semester Program. After graduation from St. Lawrence, Barrett worked on a ranch in Dubois, Wyoming. His interest in western land-use issues prompted him to work as a draftsman for a civil engineering firm in Victor, Idaho. Last summer, he traveled in western Tanzania to volunteer with a local NGO called the Gombe School for Environment and Society. Barrett worked this winter at a ski resort in Jackson, Wyoming, and is an avid backcountry skier. This will be his second summer leading a Putney Community Service program in Tanzania. Barrett is proficient in Kiswahili and is a certified Wilderness First Responder.