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Biology Alumnus, Trace Landreth, is Working in Afghanistan

Photo of Cameron Trace LandrethCameron Trace Landreth took an unusual step shortly after graduating with a B.S. in Biology in May 2011. In July he went to work for a government funded company, called Niitek, which searches for IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and other underground threats in Afghanistan.

Niitek has developed a Husky Mounted Detection System (HMDS) that uses ground penetrating radar (GPR) to detect underground explosives and a range of other devices. Trace is the lead instructor for all of northern Afghanistan, teaching soldiers how to use the HMDS and to dispose of detected threats. Quite a dangerous job, no less.

(See photos below of Trace standing next to a HMDS in Afghanistan.)

Photo of Trace Landreth and HMDS Photo of Trace Landreth and HMDS

Trace has set his sights on other goals, however. He is in the process of applying to Physician Assistant programs and hopes to start next year.

In the meantime, he is putting his biology education to work, setting up pitfall traps to survey the local fauna in Afghanistan. His first day of trapping captured what may be a jerboa (pictured below), a species of rodent that hops like a kangaroo rat and uses its tail as a third hind leg. (Never mind the oversized ears.)

Photo of a jerboa in Afghanistan Photo of jerboa in Afghanistan

While a student in the Biology Department at UNCP, Trace served as Historian for the Psi Lambda Chapter of TriBeta and was an avid diver and amateur photographer of marine life. Perhaps marine biology will call Trace to a second career? We wish you back safe and sound, Trace.

Photo of sunset in Afghanistan
Sunset in Afghanistan (above)

Photos Courtesy of Cameron Trace Landreth

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Updated: Monday, October 1, 2012

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