Conroy's work with Masai tribesmen from East Africa and their cattle featured
They could hardly have been more different, the nomadic Masai tribesmen from East Africa and the college professor from New Hampshire. Yet, as they sat around a campfire on a remote African savanna, it soon became clear that they all spoke the same timeless language: cattle.
The Masai learned that Drew Conroy '86, '01G, a professor of applied animal science at UNH's Thompson School, grew up on a New Hampshire farm and bought his first pair of oxen when he was 13. They marveled at pictures of Conroy's current team working the land and dragging huge saw logs out of the woods.
In turn, Conroy was fascinated to see how every facet of Masai life revolves around cattle. They kept talking—about hoof care, cattle diseases, breeding and grazing—and before they knew it, they had passed an entire night around the fire, discovering how much they shared in common.
