Consultative Meeting held by representatives of Save the Elephants and Karatina University on 3rd July 2023.
Right to Left: Dr. Duncan Kimuyu, Dr. George Ndiritu, Dr. Flora Namu, Nancy Odweyo (Save the Elephants), Dr. Festus Ihwagi (Save the Elephants), Dr. Hellen Kamiri (Ag. DVC-ARSA), Dr. Josephine Njambuya, Mr. Silas Kimathi and Mr Hillary Kimutai.
In line with their mission to secure a future for elephants and to sustain the beauty and ecological integrity of their habitats the Save the Elephants representatives visited Karatina University, School of Natural Resources Management and Environmental Studies where they had fruitful discussions. The deliberations focussed on the needs to build capacity of young passionate and innovative researchers to spearhead conservation and management of elephants and other biological diversity across the continent. It was observed that serious knowledge gaps exist for young scientists between the developing and developed countries. To bridge this gap, the Save the Elephants has initiated a programme of raising funds to sponsor the mentoring and training of students at postgraduate levels as well as undergraduates seeking attachment and internship opportunities.
In the last two years, two MSc students in SNRES have benefited from this programme and as result of positive engagements with members of the Faculty, the Save the Elephants have identified KarU as a key partner in mentoring and training of students. During the next academic year, the Save the Elephants has indicated its willingness to sponsor at least three MSc students per year in KarU. Scholarship opportunities like this will empower the next generation of wildlife custodians who will sustainably manage and bequeath the next generation with elephants and all the biological diversity we enjoy today.
The Save the Elephants and Karatina University have agreed to work together to create a pool of researchers and experts within Kenya and Africa as a whole. The two institutions look forward to collaborating and networking to address the unique wicked challenges in the 21st century facing our elephants, wildlife, and biological diversity, especially poaching, competition for space with humans, effects of reducing size and quality of habitats, and climate change.