Candidate Profiles
MAGIS Candidates, 2008 - 2010

Benjamin Burghart

Ben was born and raised outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was enlightened by a Quaker boarding high school to become a conscientious objector, show compassion towards others, and intensively explore the world around him. From there, he moved only 40 miles west to attend Franklin & Marshall College, where he learned the infallible virtues of a liberal arts education.

After his sophomore year, he began a yearlong journey to West Africa, based mostly in Accra, Ghana, where he received credit from the University of Ghana, Legon. He returned to college and reluctantly majored in Religious Studies, a previous passion that travel had rendered personally obsolete. After graduating in 2007, he sought to solidify his natural science background by taking brief stints as a horticulturist in Ohio and a resource management intern at a national park in Oregon.

Ben has worked on a variety of topics: the legality of peyote; evangelical Christianity as an impediment to economic development; the theology of Rastafari; engaging anthropology to play a greater public role; evaluating ecotourism in developing countries; and using GIS to protect caves from visitor damage. Ben looks forward to using the theoretical lenses of various disciplines to examine issues surrounding global agricultural security and trade, environmentally sustainable business practices and technology and, in general, how the world will be a better place for future generations.

Ben completed his internship at Namib Desert Environmental Educational Trust (NaDEET), in Nambia, Africa, working on writing grants, keeping  up donor relations, writing articles for newspapers/magazines to boost  publicity, and conducting an in-house survey (a self-evaluation for  the organization). There are also a number of outdoor maintenance  projects that Ben helped with.