Research Goals and Key Questions

How can we provide the best life for elephants?

Asian elephants are at the centre of numerous campaigns surrounding their lives in captive environments. Little is known, however, about the many aspects of their lives when living in large, protected forests. Our research seeks to understand how Asian elephants experience and engage with their world. We study how elephants navigate their complex forest environment, communicate, make decisions, forage for food, and form social bonds. Findings from this research have important implications for the protection and conservation of the species, by shedding light on their complex lives and multifaceted needs. A life of captivity cannot provide for Asian elephants.

Wildness and Anthropocene Centered Conservation Questions

What does it mean to be wild in a world where wilderness encompasses a diversity of human-constructed environments? In the Anthropocene, where all wildlife is impacted by human behaviour, we must ask what is at the heart of being ‘wild’ for the animals themselves. Utilizing interdisciplinary research methods we assess all aspects of ‘wildness’ for elephants with the end goal of creating the first ever wildness index. This index will have broad applications within the conservation and animal protection sectors across species. 

Research Director: Liv Baker, PhD

Dr Liv Baker is a conservation behaviorist and an expert in wild animal wellbeing. Her research focuses on the role individual, wild animals have in the health of their social groups and populations. Dr Baker’s work explores the similar patterns of well-being and behavior seen across the animal kingdom. Dr Baker’s conservation and welfare research projects involve a range of wild animals, including, elephants, cetaceans, primates, arachnids, rodents, and macropods. In addition to teaching at Hunter College, CUNY, USA in the Animal Behavior and Conservation Program, she is the chair of PAN Works, an animal ethics nonprofit, behavior advisor for Elephant Aid International’s integrative health team, as well as scientific advisor for the Whale Sanctuary Project. She is a past fellow with the Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology Sydney, Australia; and Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of Cambridge, UK.