Earthwatch: Thailand - Thinking Like an Elephant in Thailand

Volunteer to study Asian Elephants on an Earthwatch Expedition in Thailand, helping to understand the behavior and intelligence of this endangered species.

How do elephants remember the location of family members, food and water sources? How do they interact with each other, and people, in and out of their natural environments? With Dr. Joshua Plotnik and his research team, you’ll work to understand elephant behaviour and intelligence. You’ll conduct non-invasive cognition research on elephants cared for in captivity in Chiang Saen, in the Chiang Rai province, and help gain a deeper understanding of elephant behavior. Findings will inform wild elephant management, and the development of human/elephant conflict mitigation strategies that will put elephant needs on a par with those of local communities in Thailand.

You’ll work up close with elephants, collecting behavioral data in cognition experiments, participating with setup, apparatus building, food preparation, and you may also assist mahouts – elephant caretakers – in their daily routines. You’ll collect data, and code videotapes for computer input and analysis. You may be involved in the collection and processing of elephant urine and dung for hormone analysis in a study looking at how environment influences stress in elephants. You will also help with education initiatives for Thai, U.S. and other internationally-based communities.