Photo by Ronan Donovan, Article by Jess Hartel, courtesy of The Kearney Courier

I had been dreaming of Africa since I was 7, conjuring up ideas of chasing chimpanzees in the forest.

While my dream seemed impossibly imaginative, my mother disagreed. After graduating from Kearney High School, then Missouri State University, I completed my master’s degree at Central Washington University, studying captive chimpanzees who use sign language. Read more here.