A lucky chance recently came my way to join the expanded Ongava Research Centre (ORC), a privately funded institution dedicated to environmental studies, and fortuitously located along the boundary of Etosha National Park. My task is to help set a direction for the ORC’s studies and to establish mechanisms to support the research. This opportunity raised many interesting questions: What research should we do? What don’t we know? What is important for us to understand? Seldom do we think about those questions… it is perhaps easier and more gratifying to expound on the things we know… or believe. This seems adequate for the purposes of most environmental management, and conservation in Namibia generally operates on that basis. And so here was an occasion to step back and think about what is not known and especially things that are important to understand. Before sharing some thoughts, I’d draw your attention to The Edge, an open forum for anyone who might be attracted to what is appropriately described as "open-minded, free-ranging, intellectually playful… an unadorned pleasure in curiosity, a collective expression of wonder at the living and inanimate world… an ongoing and thrilling colloquium." Have a look, it’s the best thing since peanut butter. Most discussions on The Edge stem from questions, ideas and observations around things we puzzle over. That's a useful springboard to help formulate the questions in this article which concern seven fundamental aspects of biology and conservation in Namibia. These are the sorts of things that need answers through scientific enquiry. I also hope that they will enjoy the focus of young, curious Namibian minds.