Organizer: CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences, the New York Southeast Asia Network, and SUNY/CUNY SEAC
Type/Location: In Person / New York, NY
Description:
An interdisciplinary symposium bringing together scholars and conservationists to discuss new research and collaborative approaches to wildlife conservation.
This symposium will bring together researchers, conservationists, and students from across disciplines—including history, anthropology, conservation biology, and psychology—to explore new interdisciplinary approaches to promoting coexistence between humans and the endangered Asian elephant.
Experts on historical and cultural perspectives of human–elephant relationships, elephant biology and psychology, elephants in tourism and transportation, and human–elephant conflict will examine the future of human–elephant coexistence through a series of presentations and discussions at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Our goal is to develop a framework for continued collaboration, including a proposal for a future symposium to be held at the 2nd International Conference on Human–Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence (organized by the IUCN SSC HWCC Specialist Group, in Bangkok, Thailand, planned for March 2027.
Breakfast available from 8:00 am, talks begin at 9:00 am. Lunch will be provided for registered attendees.
Co-Organizers:
Joshua Plotnik, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Psychology
Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Talk Title: Human-Elephant Coexistence Requires a Deeper Understanding of Humans and Elephants
Bradley Camp Davis, Ph.D.
Professor, History
Institute for Advanced Study and Eastern Connecticut State University
Talk Title: The Mahout State: Elephants and Humans in Imperial Vietnam
Speakers:
Alexandra Zimmermann, Ph.D.
Chair, IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group and Associate Professor
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford, UK
Talk Title: The Challenge of Human-Elephant Coexistence: International Perspectives and Considerations
Alisa Santikarn, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Global Conservation Project, University of Vienna, Austria
Talk Title: The Last Elephant Catchers? The Heritage of the Kui Ajiang in Thailand
Anandi Gandhi
Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology
University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Talk Title: Crops as Mediators: Farmer-Elephant Relations in Eastern Thailand
Boripat Siriaroonrat, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Researcher
Mahidol University, Thailand
Talk Title: Mitigating the Severe Human-Elephant Conflict Situation in Eastern Thailand: Challenges and Opportunities
Faizah Zakaria, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Southeast Asian Studies
National University of Singapore, Singapore
Talk Title: Ways to Love Elephants
Farina Othman, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer / Acting Director
Universiti Malaysia Sabah / Seratu Aatai, Malaysia
Talk Title: Rethinking Responsibility for Human–Elephant Coexistence in Oil Palm Landscapes
Jacob Shell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Geography, Environment, and Urban Studies
Temple University, USA
Talk Title: The Zomian Elephant: Nocturnal Roaming, Morning Retrieval, and the Uses of Elephants for Transportation in Myanmar
John Roberts
Director of Elephants and Conservation, Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, Thailand
Talk Title: Whose Relationship is It Anyway? Tourism, Public Imagination and the Future of Human–Elephant Coexistence
Nicolas Lainé
Anthropologist and Researcher
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR PALOC (MNHN–CNRS–IRD), France
Faculty of Environment, Kasetsart University, Thailand
Talk Title: The Forest is Their Pharmacy: Care and Knowledge in Human–Elephant Worlds
Simon Hedges
Planning, Design, & Impact Lead
Zoological Society of London (ZSL), UK
Talk Title: Elephants Are Not “Gentle Giants”: Why Recognizing the Real Challenges of Living Alongside Elephants Is Important for Human-Elephant Coexistence
Teckwyn Lim, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor (Hon.), Environmental Science
University of Nottingham, Malaysia
Talk Title: Footprints in the Butter: Human-Elephant Ecological Relations in the Malay Peninsula
Registration:
To attend this event in person, please register here.