During this episode of the Conservation Cast, Maya had the unique opportunity to speak with Mechanical Engineering PhD Candidate, Andrew Schulz. Schulz is a conservation physicist currently researching the physics and engineering properties associated with elephant trunks. Andrew and Maya discussed his unique journey from mechanical engineer to conservation physicist, his earliest elephant encounter on safari with his mother as a child as well as a future research trip to China to work with pandas. Another interesting point of discussion involved a unique course he teaches alongside his supervisor which aims to get people with a STEM background involved with animal conservation.

Maya’s community raised $1380 for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an organization renowned for the rehabilitation of orphaned and injured elephants, rhinos, and impalas in East Africa and their subsequent re-release back into the wild.