Center for Endangered Species Conservation

Elephants of the African Savanna

Kenya

Summer Session 1

4 Weeks

4 Credits

Summer 2025

Jun 2 - Jul 1

Open

Program Costs

Tuition$5,750
Room & Board$2,450
Total$8,200

Application Deadlines

Summer 2025

April 1, 2025

Resources

Kenya Field Guide + Financial Planner

SFS Policies and Procedures (2023)

SFS Academic Handbook (2024)

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Summer Session 1 Program

Elephants of the African Savanna

Kimana, Rift Valley, Southern Kenya,

Kenya

The African elephant is a keystone species with a profound influence on the landscape and dynamic in which it coexists with other African wildlife. As the largest (and one of the most charismatic) animal walking our planet, its conservation continues to attract concern within and beyond Africa. Join SFS Faculty and leading elephant scientists to learn about these animals in the elephant conservation strongholds in and around Amboseli National Park. Hear the perspectives of local communities living at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, including their day-to-day interactions with the African elephant.

Embark on multi-day camping expedition to Maasai Mara, where you’ll hope to encounter the ‘Big Five’–the African elephant, African buffalo, lion, leopard, and black rhino.
On a multi-day camping trip, explore Amboseli National Park – widely regarded as the best place in the world to observe free-ranging elephants.
Examine the causes, manifestations, trends, and current state of human-elephant conflicts in the Amboseli Ecosystem and their implications on elephants’ conservation and co-existence with local communities.

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Academics

This academically rigorous program follows a six-day/week schedule. Each program combines theory learned during classroom sessions with field-based applications. The interdisciplinary curriculum is designed to help students actively discover and understand the complexities of environmental, social, and economic issues in Kenya.

Major academic themes include:

Elephant ecology
Elephant social behavior, communication, and intelligence
Population dynamics and management
Conservation strategies and challenges
Elephant habitat range and suitability

Courses

On the Elephants of the African Savanna program, you will take one 4-credit course. This course is participatory in nature and is designed to foster inquiry and active learning combining lectures, field exercises, assignments, and tests. This course is taught in English.

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to view a description and download the syllabus.

SFS 3252

Elephant Ecology and Conservation in Kenya

4 credits

Core Skills

You will acquire hands-on skills in the field, including: elephant identification techniques, aging elephant dung, ground counts, behavioral studies, home range assessment using telemetry techniques, mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts, use of Swahili language, ethnophoto-voicing techniques, conducting social surveys (household interviews, focused group discussions and key informant interviews), data synthesis, analysis and interpretation, and scientific writing.

Field Sites

You will visit key elephant conservation areas in the Amboseli region, visit the Kimana Sanctuary and community conservancies, learn from the Maasai people and other local tribes living at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro and in the Maasai group ranches, and interact with researchers from the Amboseli Elephant Research Project.