Elephants | WCN Expo

Save the Elephants

April 24, 2021

10:45 am PDT

Save the Elephants (STE) is a leader in elephant conservation and research in Kenya and across Africa. Elephants continue to be threatened by poaching for their ivory, and their key habitat has slowly disappeared, putting their long-term future in peril. STE has spent nearly three decades raising global awareness about this crisis, giving elephants a voice and creating pathways to coexistence between elephants and people. STE and WCN also co-manage the Elephant Crisis Fund, which supports projects aimed at stopping elephant poaching and the trafficking and demand for ivory. STE is dedicated to securing a better future for Africa’s giants.

Frank Pope is speaking in the Failure is our Greatest Teacher roundtable.

SPEAKERS

Frank Pope

CEO

Frank Pope is CEO of Save The Elephants (STE). He joined STE in 2012 at the height of the elephant poaching crisis. An experienced bush pilot, Frank is at the helm of an organization renowned for using the power of science to secure a future for elephants. Prior to joining STE, Frank spent many years in marine science and conservation, becoming the world’s first Ocean Correspondent at The Times newspaper in London. During this time, he published two acclaimed books and fronted the BBC series Britain’s Secret Seas. Frank and Save the Elephants’ world-leading team of scientists and conservationists are working to reveal the intricate world of elephants and advance their protection.

Dr. Lucy King

Head of Human-Elephant Co-Existence Program

Dr. Lucy King is a zoologist and the Head of the Human-Elephant Co-Existence Program for Save The Elephants, based in Kenya. She has been researching the use of honey bees as a natural deterrent for crop-raiding elephants since 2006, publishing her findings in numerous scientific journals. She works hard as a member of IUCN's African Elephant Specialist Group to share ideas for coexistence methods between elephants and people, helped by her TEDWomen talk that was listed in the top 10 TED talks for 2020. Last year, her team built a Women's Eco-Enterprise Center in the heart of a hotspot for human-elephant conflict next to Tsavo National Park, which helps demonstrate alternative income opportunities to at-risk women living in conflict with elephants.

Dr. Lydia Tiller

Research & Science Manager, Elephants & Bees

Dr. Lydia Tiller is the Elephant and Bees Research and Science Manager who coordinates Save The Elephant’s field research and data collection. She supervises student projects, interns, and staff in the field. Lydia is taking a lead on STE’s collared elephant project, hoping to gain a better understanding of elephant movement and elephant crop raiding behavior across the Tsavo ecosystem. She is also a member of IUCN's African Elephant Specialist Group and an editor for Pachyderm, a specialist science journal about elephants and rhinos. Lydia joined STE in January 2018 after completing her Ph.D. at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent. Her research looked at how land-use change in Kenya’s Trans Mara District is driving human-elephant conflict and elephant movement.