My name is Gregorie Michael Towai. I come from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and currently live in Oregon. I’m organizing this fundraiser for my friend and colleague Loupa Pius, a Master of Science student at Gulu University in Uganda. We met through LinkedIn, brought together by our shared belief in Indigenous visibility, knowledge, and responsibility to care for our lands and waters. The photos you see here come straight from Loupa’s field sites and from the community he calls home. Loupa is from Kaabong District in Karamoja, a remote pastoralist region in Uganda’s far northeast, where opportunities for graduate education are rare and literacy barriers are still very real. His journey forward is not only about earning a degree — it is about widening the path for others who will follow behind him.

Loupa’s research focuses on how the spread of Harrisonia abyssinica, a native invasive plant, is affecting wildlife habitat use in Kidepo Valley National Park. In November 2025, the conservation organization IDEA WILD generously donated critical field equipment, giving the project an enormous boost. But equipment alone doesn’t cover the day-to-day realities of field research: your donation today will cover transportation across long distances, local assistants, permits, lodging, food, data analysis, and completing the thesis itself. Your support goes directly to those needs and helps ensure that Loupa can finish work that will strengthen conservation planning and encourage better coexistence between communities and wildlife. If you’re able, please donate or share and be part of helping him reach the finish line.