Eric LeFlore

Growing up I was always fascinated with African wildlife, unable to get enough of TV specials on the Serengeti or Nat Geo articles on lions and other large carnivores. I knew I wanted to work with wildlife but I had no idea what my career path would look like or what options were actually possible. During my junior year at Connecticut College, I attended a wildlife conservation study abroad program in Tanzania which solidified my love of the African bush. Following this program, I did an internship on a reserve in South Africa where I tracked and monitored collared lions. Back on campus and inspired by my time in Africa, I wrote a senior thesis investigating the ecological and social implications of the national park conservation model in east and southern Africa. Upon earning a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies in 2011, I started graduate school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Department of Environmental Conservation and received a Master’s degree in 2014 for my work studying the distribution of coyote, red fox and gray fox in Massachusetts. After developing the concept of Pride in Our Prides with Andrew, I established and managed the field components of the project in conjunction with my PhD research and a Fulbright Research Grant to Botswana in 2014. Pride in Our Prides has grown and evolved since then and I’m delighted to be following my childhood dreams and contributing to the conservation of a vulnerable and iconic species.

May 2016