Brian was a fascinating man to talk to.  From listening to his story, I could tell that he definitely faced some tough challenges during his first Peace Corps service in Morocco, and even during his second Peace Corps service in Jordan.   What impressed me most about Brian, though, was his insistence on standing up for what he believed was right.  Some people shy away from making waves, for fear of what it might cost them.  For Brian, even though it ultimately led to ending his second tour of Peace Corps early, doing the right thing was more important.

Brian (middle) with other PCVs in Melilla, a Spanish town in Morocco

Brian (far right) on the beach in Agadir, Morocco

Brian (back row, second from right) with his Peace Corps Jordan cohorts

In Petra, Jordan

Dr. Brian Kuhn is currently a researcher in zoology and palaeoanthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. His current work studies modern carnivore ecology, taphonomy and the fossil carnivores associated with Australopithecus sediba.

Brian served in the Peace Corps in Morocco from 1994-1996 as a health and sanitation volunteer. He was assigned to Jemaa Sidi Laaroussi, but lived in the nearby village of Talmest, in the Essaouira Province. In 1996, after discussion of extending and switching sectors to Parks, Wildlife and Environmental Education (PWEE), it was decided the best option was to COS from Morocco and join the first group of volunteers going to Jordan as a PWEE in 1997. In Jordan he was assigned to the Shaumari Nature reserve near Azraq out in the eastern desert.

Brian earned his undergraduate degrees in Zoology and Anthropology from Washington State University in Pullman, WA.  After the Peace Corps, he completed his Masters (MSc) degree in Palaeoecology/Zooarchaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at the University College London, and then completed his doctorate degree in 2003 at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.  Brian currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

With Dr. Jane Goodall in June 2013