A look back.

On my way back home to the USA, I reflected on my time in Kenya with the Elephants and Bees Project and Save The Elephants... That was the craziest, most random, and challenging adventure I've ever had in my life. The majority of my time there, I had no idea what I was doing! Yet, here I am, almost...

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A love note to Portland.

When I boarded the plane to leave Namibia summer after my sophomore year, I cried. Never before had I been to a place so wild. I thought - this is it. I've found where I am meant to be the rest of my life. I belong in Africa. But as I sit here in Kenya, I find myself feeling somehow guilty for not having that same feeling of wanting to live here forever. I realize, of course, that some things...

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Finally - we're in!

As I write this post I am sitting on a couch, in an office, with desks, electricity, shelves, and SPACE... That's right; we are officially moved in to the Elephants and Bees Research Center! It is so exciting to have a defined work space, a place to slump (looking at you, couch, my love) and to...

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Precious Wabongo

Part of our many jobs as interns on the Elephants and Bees Project in Tsavo is to start laying the foundation for larger research questions about our beehive fences, such as, what makes bees happy? In other words, why are some hives or entire farms more occupied than others? So far, we haven't had...

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First raid of the season.

At around 8:00 on Friday, January 10, 2014, I sat down to the dinner table, starving and exhausted after a long day. As we dished out the servings of stir fry (a treat compared to our usual tomatoes, beans, and rice dish), Nzumu was helping Imran with one last task before he was headed home. As he worked, he casually said "There are elephants in the shambas." RIGHT NOW?! Yes, right then. We explained...

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