BSc Honours, Zoology, University of St. Andrews 2014
Biography
Dr. Elizabeth Davis serves San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Social Scientist in Community Engagement. In this role, she teaches postgraduate students in the U.S. and Vietnam, designs surveys for broad social science studies, conducts investigative anthropological studies, performs data analysis, and writes reports and scientific articles. Working with many partners including Vinh University, Vietnam, the Center for Species Survival – Biodiversity Banking, and the IUCN Species Survival Commission Bear Specialist Group, Elizabeth studies wildlife trade and consumption in Southeast Asia. She conducts consumer research and designs behavior change initiatives to reduce demand for wildlife and their products, and she works with communities to understand motivations for unsustainable hunting with the goal of working together to find hunting alternatives. As part of this project, she has interviewed women in Cambodia about their use of bear bile to treat pregnancy-related illnesses, led a countrywide initiative in Vietnam to understand consumers of bear bile for medicine, and conducted focus group discussions within a key biodiversity area in Vietnam. For every project she works on, she works closely with in-country partners and the individuals involved, seeking conservation solutions that are positive for wildlife and for local communities.
