Gobabeb

     Miles upon miles of rolling red sand dunes stretch for as far as the eye can. Occasionally you pass a small welwishia plant, small but hundreds of years old.  However on this dirt road, seemingly to nowhere, a metal spire pokes up above the dunes.  As you get closer the tower grows until you can make out expansive research station tucked into the dunes.  It is the Gobabeb research station a worldwide leader in desert research.

   The station was started in 1962 by beetle researcher Charles Koch and has dramatically expanded its purpose and research from that point. Researchers at Gobabeb have pioneered research on welwitchia, the food web of the Namib, the desert's geology and atmospheric gas concentration. 

The spire you had seen when approaching the station is used for measuring atmospheric gas concentrations to create better climatic models for the southern hemisphere and give researchers a better understanding of how climate change is affecting the climate. 

Besides hosting a staff of researcher form the Ministry of the Environment and Tourism, Gobabeb also hosts around 1,000 Namibian students from around the country to learn about biodiversity and scientific research.    They also take 5-10 interns at a time and depending on space availability also let outsiders visit overnight.     

- Chris LeBoa

http://www.travelnewsnamibia.com/news/gobabeb-research-training-centre/
https://www.mpg.de/6953568/Gobabeb-climate-station
http://www.gobabebtrc.org/