Stephanie Bourgeois

MSc Ecology, Evolution, Biometry, Claude Bernard-Lyon 1 University, France (2007), Doctorate in Veterinary medicine, Maisons-Alfort National Veterinary School, France (2007)

Research interests

Genetic study of forest elephants: population assignment of ivory and connectivity between National Parks

The overall objective of the project is to improve forest elephant conservation in Central Africa by providing powerful tools to fight against ivory traffic, to better target antipoaching activities, and to promote land use planning that favors connectivity between populations, using genetic analysis.

We will create a reference genetic database of elephants across Gabon and identify discrete populations. The project will focus on : 1) developing a robust procedure for genetically tracking and determining the origin of seized ivory, including case studies linked to poached elephants; and 2) studying population genetic structure, gene flow and connectivity between forest elephant populations in Gabon, with aim of evaluating the risk of potential land use planning on gene flow and population structure.

Funding Acknowledgements

Funds for the project were provided by CEEAC under the ECOFAC V Programme (Fragile Ecosystems of Central Africa), funded by the European Union.

Supervisors

Dr Kathryn Jeffery
Dr Nils Bunnefeld
Dr Rob Ogden (RZSS)
Dr Helen Senn (RZSS)
Information can also be found here: LINK