We would like to invite you to join us in this challenging Tsavo elephant research. You will meet elephants we have known formore than a decade. Each elephant has its own personality and physical characteristics that we use to identify it. We will be working in the vast and beautiful southern region of the Tsavo ecosystem, which is filled with extraordinary plants and wildlife. You will be spending many hours searching for elephants and the other wildlife in this habitat. Our goal, with your help, is to compile our data to help preserve and protect the Tsavo elephants.

Dr. Barbara McKnight has been conducting field research on the Tsavo elephants for more than 15 years. Her research is based on over 800 individually recognized elephants, many of whom she has known for over a decade. She lives and works full-time in Tsavo, monitoring these known individuals’ ranging patterns, reproductive statuses, cycles and associations. She also monitors the elephant population’s group size, composition and location. Dr. McKnight received her Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Oxford in the UK and her B.A. from the University of Northern Colorado in the US. She is currently a member of IUCN Elephant Specialist Group. She will lead all Earthwatch teams.

Dr. Samuel Kasiki is a senior scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service’s Research and Biodiversity Department. He has substantial expertise in human-wildlife conflict involving both elephants and carnivores. He is responsible for channeling all of the results of the project’s work to the Kenya Wildlife Service, where it can be used to make appropriate decisions on conservation and management of elephants and other wildlife in Tsavo. Dr. Kasiki received his Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Canterbury, Kent in the UK, and his B.S. from the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

Volunteers will work within Tsavo East National Park and the Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary, both of which are located in the southeastern region of Kenya, three degrees south of the equator. The study area within Tsavo East contains 4,000 square kilometers and is located south of the permanent Galana River, with a mix of open grassland, riverine vegetation and thick bush.

Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary is 325 kilometers of privately owned land adjacent to Tsavo East. The sanctuary serves as an elephant dispersal area and contains a number of natural waterholes and water tanks that the teams will use to survey for elephants. Since the sanctuary is not a tourist area, you will have a unique opportunity to observe elephants and other wildlife in a different habitat with relatively few vehicles and humans present.

Teleconference Q&A