CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW)- Austin Peay graduate Lynn Von Hagen dreamed of working with elephants in the Kenyan bush. She has recently realized that dream as she works to preserve the country’s elephant population.
“I have loved elephants and wildlife as long as I can remember,” Von Hagen, 46, said. “I always wanted to make an impact through conservation of the natural world, while also helping people.”
Von Hagen is a Ph.D candidate and Presidential Research Fellow at Auburn University. Her work focuses on human-elephant conflict and elephant movement and behavior in Kenya.
She is working on developing community workshops to increase livelihood stability and reduce human-elephant conflict. The current project she’s working on is Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya.
Von Hagen came back to school at Austin Peay after a 20-year break from education to pursue a lifelong goal of being a conservation biologist. She graduated in 2015 with a degree in zoology.
“APSU is special to me because I felt like the daunting task of being a returning student was assuaged by the kindness of both the teachers and my fellow students,” she added. “I received a lot of support during my time at APSU and made lifelong friends and colleagues.”
UniqueScientists.com recently published a profile Von Hagen in which she talks about being a woman in STEM and the additional challenges of working “in the remote Kenyan bush, daily driv(ing) out into the field in less than desirable conditions, track elephants, engage with local native communities, and do a whole bunch of other stuff that women ‘aren’t supposed to do.’”