Sustainability Leadership Fellowship Cohort: 2015-2016

Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology

Research Summary: Wildlife harvest is often thought of in terms of numbers lost, but harvest may have behavioral consequences that contribute to population status. African elephants have experienced a recent resurgence in ivory poaching directed toward older individuals for their larger tusks. The ability of young females to withstand the loss of older matriarchs, which serve as information centers, is unknown. Integrating demographic, movement, and social network approaches, I am investigating the behavioral strategies of females from disrupted families and the effects of behavior on survival and reproduction, with implications for less accessible populations and other long-lived species facing anthropogenic threat.