‘Cheetah Conservation Fund: A UW Photography Exhibit’ Fundraiser Oct. 4 at Denver Press Club

A trip to Namibia changed the way Wyoming native and University of Wyoming student Maddy Huffman views conservation and applies media work.

"We felt so connected and such a part of the team, even only being there a short time," she says. "I wasn't expecting to spend eight days there and then cry while leaving."

Huffman, of Cheyenne, was part of a study-abroad course by the UW Department of Communication and Journalism to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in May and June. Now, the public is invited to "Cheetah Conservation Fund: A University of Wyoming Photography Exhibit."

An open house event is scheduled 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Denver Press Club and features photographs from UW students who spent two weeks in Namibia. Student photographs and other items will be up for auction. Proceeds from this event will help fund a UW communication and journalism student intern at CCF next year and CCF itself.

Founded in Namibia in 1990 by Laurie Marker, CCF is dedicated to saving the cheetah in the wild. CCF's vision is to see a world in which cheetahs live and flourish in coexistence with people within a sustainable system that is protective of the environment, socially responsible and economically viable.

Marker will speak at the event at 12:30 p.m.; VIP book signings and photographs with Marker begin at noon. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. To purchase a ticket, visit https://gopokes.formstack.com/forms/cojo_ccf_fundraiser.

Huffman says getting to create content for both the UW Department of Communication and Journalism and CCF social media accounts was one of the highlights of the class.

"It's not the type of communication or environment and natural resources work that you would do in Wyoming, so it opens up a whole new world to different topics, experiences and people," she says.

The study-abroad course gave students the opportunity to work with an international, nonprofit organization and experience how communication skills and conservation work go hand in hand.

"One thing that is valuable to students is an experience that will help them in their lives," says Cindy Price Schultz, the co-leader of the course. "They got to understand animals in a completely new way. Now, the public can see the results of those experiences."

Price Schultz says students who went to Namibia and those in her public relations techniques course last spring who organized a Run Like a Cheetah 5K, a fundraiser for CCF that raised almost $6,000, will look back and say they got to be a part of helping save the cheetahs.

For more information, email Price Schultz at [email protected].