As the last semester of college
rushed by, my prospects after graduation looked increasingly grim. It seemed
like I was way under-qualified for just about everything I wanted to do.
Luckily, as I learned while serving as co-president of Colorado College Tigers
for Tigers, it only takes a few small connections to get involved with
something truly remarkable.
When I saw that Dr. Eric
Dinerstein was attending the national summit meeting, I was ecstatic. Not only
is he a well-known and respected conservationist, but I had just written a
thesis partially inspired by his work in Nepal with human-tiger conflict. As
soon as the conference started, I made it a point to talk to him throughout
each day, and try and absorb all of his insights. After learning about the new
project he was starting at the non-profit RESOLVE, I felt
compelled to keep in contact with him after the conference. Then, the week
before graduation, he offered me an internship working in D.C. on his new
project and I jumped at the opportunity.
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| The DJI Phantom drone |
Eric’s new program is set to
focus on finding new and enduring solutions for conserving the earth’s rapidly
decreasing biodiversity. This will largely be done through an incredible
collaboration between conservation biologists and technical experts. Currently,
the main project here seeks to utilize existing and emerging technologies by
apply them to conservation, and make these solutions accessible (read
affordable) to scientists, park rangers, and stakeholders.
This includes new advances in hidden camera traps to
help monitor wildlife populations and identify poachers through facial
recognition software, to low-cost animal trackers which make it easier than
ever for scientists to conduct large-mammal research and tracking.
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Nathan explaining how the drone works
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Other initiatives in the works
include a joint project with World Resources Institute to map forest loss in
biodiversity hotspots and utilize this information to delineate zones of
extreme conservation importance to better assist land managers in delineating
development areas. Because all the projects are still in the preliminary
stages, it’s an incredible opportunity to witness firsthand how conservation
programs begin.
As an example of a new and
exciting project we are beginning to test, we are trying to use a quadcopter drone to
pester elephants and move them away from crop fields to reduce human-wildlife
conflict. Similar drones are being used by
Marc Goss, a researcher in Maasai Mara reserve, Kenya, to keep elephants
out of high poaching zones. It’s thought that the elephants are scared by the
sound of the drone’s propellers, which sound an awful lot like a swarm of angry
bees. However, in an effort to prevent elephants (who are incredibly
intelligent) from habituating to this strategy, we are attempting to combine
this with the use of chili powder, which
is already used as an elephant deterrent around Africa. I was
lucky enough to help test the set up here in D.C., and we are hoping to test it
in the field to see how the elephants respond soon.
If there is one thing to take
away from your time with Tigers for Tigers (besides the fact that you’re
helping save tigers!), it is that this club sets every member up with an
extensive network of non-profit and research contacts that you can use to
continue pursuing your passion for conservation and wildlife biology.
Always a tiger,
Nathan Hahn
Colorado College T4T Alum
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