Tanzanian Student Wins Research Award

School of Public Policy Building Bridges

Tanzanian Student Wins Research Award

Most young people in Tanzania have never heard of the Maryland School of Public Policy. But through the generosity of those who saw the promise in Emmanuel Sulle, he has completed his first year of studies at the School and has also won the Conservation Research in Eastern Africa’s Threatened Ecosystems (CREATE) Research Award from the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Sulle will study the impact of microcredit institutions (in this case Community Conservation Banks) which are in place within the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania. Sulle will conduct the field research in Tanzania during the winter break of 2011-2012.

"Emmanuel is a wonderful example of the School's bridge across the oceans--of using the tools of public policy to improve the quality of life and to make a big impact on the world," says MSPP Dean Don Kettl.

Sulle was working as a Research Associate at the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum when he was encouraged by Professor Robert Nelson to apply to the MSPP program. Nelson’s son Fred, who worked 12 years in Tanzania on wildlife conservation, had worked with Sulle on two research studies – most recently the published report on “Biofuels, land access and rural livelihoods in Tanzania”.

“We need more people like Emmanuel,” said Bob Nelson, who also serves as Sulle’s informal mentor.

  “Unfortunately, they are hard to identify.”

Sulle is currently in Tanzania collaborating with the Maliasili Initiatives to undertake two research projects on “Wildlife Management Areas and Pastoralist Livelihoods: An Assessment,” and “Analysis from Northern Tanzania and Community-based Conservation in the Tarangire-Manyara Corridor: An Assessment of Existing Models and Experiences.”

“Emmanuel is in a position to take his MSPP education and make a serious policy impact in Tanzania,” says MSPP Student Affairs Assistant Director, Taryn Faulkner.

Sulle earned his BA in Economics from St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in 2008. He has carried out a variety of research projects commissioned by, or in collaboration with MISERIOR-Germany, Fulbright, Tanzania Natural Resource Forum, Sand County Foundation, and Health and Development International Consultants. He has authored and co-authored a number of research reports on tourism revenue transparency, wildlife management areas, as well as biofuels, land access, and rural livelihoods in Tanzania.

“I am interested to see rational use of natural resources as a tool for poverty reduction in developing countries,” Sulle said.

HONGERA SANA,NDUGU EMMANUEL.KILA LA HERI.