Thankful to be awarded a Parkes Foundation Small #Grant to help me with the #research costs of conducting my #PhD #fieldwork in the beautiful Makgadikgadi-Nxai Pans National Park!! π©΅π§πΌ grateful for my tent life here with Elephants for Africa ποΈπ€©π
Rachel Thomson π
@rachelliephant.bsky.social
π PhD Elephant Cognition, Personality & Conflict π§ Comparative & Evolutionary Psychology π University of Portsmouth / Elephants for Africa π 1+3 South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership π MRes Neuroscience / MSc Research Methods
Our very own @tapintothewild.bsky.social presented work from two of her PhD chapters on #elephant #postures and human-elephant interactions at @ecbb2026.bsky.social last week!! Amazing work and fabulous talk ππππ» #ECBB2026
π£ Call for Papers! Guest Editors (Victor Ajuwon, Laura S. Lewis, and Tiago Monteiro) for Animal Cognition are seeking papers for a special issue on curiosity and information-seeking in animals. Manuscripts due November 30, 2026! Curious already? Check it out ππΌ link.springer.com/collections/...
Curiosity and Information-Seeking in Animals
Curiosity, the intrinsic motivation to investigate and gain information, is fundamental to human intelligence. However, like other cognitive capacities that ...
link.springer.com
A sunny morning in Winchester presenting a workshop at the @theatp.bsky.social Teaching Psychology Conference on animals in #psychology and how students could use zoos to bolster knowledge of research design! πππ§ π©π»βπ«
Grateful to present some of my research about #elephant #personality and its applications for zoo welfare and conservation at the 28th @biaza.bsky.social Research Conference at Colchester Zoo!! An amazing conference to attend and meet incredible scientists at on a brief fieldwork interlude ππ©΅π§
Fieldwork dreams: attending @uop-ccep.bsky.social journal club (a super interesting talk by Titir Debnath on #macaques and #humanβwildlife #conflict in the Indian Himalayas)β¦ and some grey friends also wanted to listen!! πποΈπ
Grateful to have won a second Jana Robeyst Trust Fund #Grant to help support my research assistant hire π©΅ shoutout to Thatayaone (TT) and his incredible knowledge; from helping me find elephants, to filming them - and for being a calm presence when they come a little too close!! π€£ππ₯
π£ATTENTION!!! Postdoc position on Creativity in Wild Chimpanzees and Bonobos π€© With the APE Group & Wildminds Lab @nakedprimate.bsky.social Come join us!!! β¨Please RTβ¨ @efprimatology.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social
Postdoc Opportunity! 4-year @royalsociety.org funded post @uniexecec.bsky.social: βUnderstanding the role of individual cognitive variation in reintroduction biologyβ. Closes: 5 June 2026. More info & to apply: careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/78... Wt: @paradiseparkhayle.bsky.social & Wildwood Trust
#Fieldwork highlights so far - the commute to work becoming highly flooded with the Boteti River making its first return in years πβοΈ camera-trapping and tracking crop-raiding elephants through fields πΈπ½πΎ and elephant focal sampling in the national park! ππΉ @scdtp.bsky.social
We've extended this study to see how many responses we can get in one week! π tinyurl.com/55vjsbxr Don't miss out on fun #science participation right at your fingertips. Help us understand how we perceive and interpret #elephant behaviour π π» π Study link: tinyurl.com/55vjsbxr
First day at school vibes!! Starting Easter visiting the #Okavango Research Institute, meeting my affiliated supervisor Dr. Tempe Adams for lots of exciting chats, and attending fascinating talks on #indigenous #knowledge in social sciences research π©΅ππ§πΌ
In this study of behavioural syndromes in giant pandas πΌ, proactive pandas had lower stress hormone levels π and were better at exploring and problem solvingπ‘. These findings can help identify pandas best suited for reintroduction and translocation. Read it here β‘οΈ doi.org/10.1093/conp...
Panda profiles: integrating personality, cognition, and physiology for conservation success
Abstract. The alarming decline in biodiversity necessitates a comprehensive understanding of animal adaptations to environmental changes. Behavioural syndr
doi.org
π¨π£ Calling everyone who lives or works with #elephants !! π£π¨ help us to share, spread the word and find those to complete a short study on #elephant #posture for some fab research by @tapintothewild.bsky.social π©΅ how many responses can we get in a week? πππ§ Link: tinyurl.com/55vjsbxr
It was our #CCEPScienceDay yesterday!! We put on a fab day of presentations, poster sessions and activities to talk to students about our staff and student projects πππ©π»βπ¬ and showcase the range of research happening across our centre!! π΄πΆπππ¦§
Landed in Botswana for my new fieldwork season !! Picked up my car, drove to the bush and settled into my tent. Now to wait for the eles!! ππ©Άπ§πΌ @scdtp.bsky.social
We had a fab journal club today featuring the work of Jennifer Linden - a PhD student from @zslofficial.bsky.social / @ox.ac.uk - talking to us all about her research on African #wilddog conservation and climate change! ππΆπ
Check out this fascinating article about elephant knowledge, featuring our very own Dr. Lucy Bates π§ ππ
How elephants pass on crucial survival skills to next generations
Scientists are finding elephant youths respond differently to danger if they grew up without elders.
nationalgeographic.com
I used to read these A-Level Review magazines all the time at 6th Formβ¦ and now Iβm published in one!! Check out the latest #PsychologyReview to read all about ethics in animal research, with stories from all my study species and discussion points for students! πππ¬π @hachettelearning.bsky.social
Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants, passed away on Monday at the age of 83. Iain's work showed the world how deeply intelligent, social, and important wild elephants are, laying the groundwork for their protection. https://ow.ly/40L250XHymc
Iain Douglas-Hamilton, pioneering elephant conservationist, dies aged 83
His groundbreaking field research was instrumental in banning the international ivory trade and protecting elephants from poachers.
ow.ly
Fab day yesterday at the SCDTP @scdtp.bsky.social Final Year Conference listening to a range of fab research presentations - shoutout to my research centre pals who smashed their talks! πππ΄ #SCDTPFYC2526
Prepping some (colourful!) slides to chat to some @liverpooluni.bsky.social undergraduate students later!! ππ
Grateful to have been given the chance to present some captive elephant personality results at the @biaza.bsky.social Conservation and Human-Wildlife Conflict Conference 2025 ππΌπ¦ a really inspiring couple of days and fab first conference!! β¨ @scdtp.bsky.social
We are hiring - PDRA position exploring how information access shapes social dynamics in killer whales. Collaboration with @samellisq.bsky.social @drwhale.bsky.social Prof Dan Franks (York) start 1st Nov (or ASAP) end 31st Oct 2028. Apps close on 19th Oct. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOT336/p...
Starting to look at the data from my zoo visits looking at captive elephant personality! π§ Throwback to visiting Blackpool Zoo with my research assistant thanks to a generous @animal-welfare.bsky.social grant π€©ππΎ
Thrilled to have won Best Poster at the Uni of Portsmouthβs Festival of Doctoral Research #UoPDocFest last week! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat ππ§ π @scdtp.bsky.social
Very grateful for my Jana Robyest Trust Fund grant and Portsmouth Psychology grant for getting me on a plane to Botswana - and to the Elephants for Africa research camp! ππ©Ά Here to scope out the national park for my PhD field season next year; what a beautiful place ππ§πΌ #SCDTP @scdtp.bsky.social