Michelle Weiland, an honors student in animal ecology, spent three-and-a-half months in Tanzania, studying giraffes and learning about Tanzanian culture.

She will recount her travels and research in a seminar entitled “A Tapestry of Tanzania” this afternoon as part of the weekly Animal Ecology Seminar Series at 3:10p.m. in Lagomarcino W142.

Weiland said she will show some pictures from safaris and plans to summarize her project on the age structure of giraffes.

The age structure of giraffes is an indicator of how well the giraffe population will do in the future in the wild, Weiland said.

Weiland said her seminar will not be just heavy science, but more of a fun seminar with many pictures of lions and hyenas that she saw on safaris.

“It’s not really scientific, just more showing people what I did and maybe trying to encourage some other undergraduates to go study abroad on their own,” she said. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It will change your whole perspective on life and on other cultures. It makes you not so ethnocentric toward American culture.”

Weiland said she funded her trip using scholarships and her own money.

She said she had wanted to learn more about East Africa and to visit. She plans to return to Tanzania next summer.