Meerkats, sawgrass, deserts and predators of all sorts, experience Africa through the eyes of veteran traveler and award-winning nature photographer Betty Wasicek. In this multimedia program, join Wasicek to learn about the endangered and critically endangered species within seven countries in Africa. Much of the wildlife featured in her imagery is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, a list of species at high risk of global extinction.

By participating in this program, you can expect to learn about:

• extraordinarily wonderful countries, native cultures, and a list of endangered and/or highly endangered wildlife that invites and encourages tourism;
• the alarmingly-high annual numeric decrease of wildlife at all levels, as a result of human encroachment, habitat loss and poaching;
• the need to recognize the importance of helping to preserve the species and protect it for the world to see, making a safe haven for future generations to enjoy in lieu of historical pictures of what was.

This program is presented by Betty Wasicek and is hosted by the Winter Park Health Foundation.

How to join the Zoom Program:

Upon registration for this program, you will receive two emails:

• One email from Eventbrite: you can either disregard this email or save it for your records. No action needed with this message.

• One email from the Center for Health & Wellbeing: this email will contain your link to join the Zoom meeting. Simply select the link and the Zoom Meeting will launch. Please allow yourself five – 10 minutes before program start to launch Zoom and confirm your technology is properly working.

By participating in this program, you agree to the CHWB’s Gracious Space policy. Unless otherwise noted, all CHWB Digital Education programs hosted via Zoom are recorded and made available for on-demand viewing on WellbeingNetwork.org. If you prefer to be left out of the program’s recording, please leave your camera and microphone off for the duration of the program.

About Your Program Presenter

Betty Wasicek is a veteran traveler and award-winning nature photographer. Her images — both wildlife and underwater — have won multiple awards, among them several from the National Geographic Traveler. Her interest in photography began with her mother’s Brownie camera in the early 1960’s when her parents gave her a high school graduation trip to east Africa to witness the great wildebeest and zebra migration from the plains of Masai Mara, Kenya into the Serengeti in Tanzania. Africa whetted her appetite and drew her back regularly thereafter. Her avid interest in animal photography may have begun in Africa with her mother’s old Brownie camera, but developed into an all-encompassing interest in nature and underwater photography. In the 1960’s, as an avocation and because of her love of the ocean and underwater critters, she became a serious certified scuba diver and YMCA scuba diving instructor, which led to underwater photography. Wasicek was determined to become an ambassador not only for the underwater life but wildlife in general — large and small.