From dense jungles to open plains, zoo scientists travel the world conducting research. Peek into their field diaries for updated reports. Follow along as the scientists below struggle with transportation, study animals both known and new, and report on the state of Lincoln Park Zoo's field projects around the globe.

In the Field—Tanzania and Uganda

LAST UPDATE - JUNE 30
A team of Lincoln Park Zoo scientists is traveling through Tanzania and Uganda to conduct conservation research in the field. Elizabeth Lonsdorf, Ph.D., Dr. Dominic Travis and Eric Lonsdorf, Ph.D., are working with the Jane Goodall Institute to monitor the health of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, while Steve Ross is making his first visit to Africa to observe the behavior of the park’s chimpanzees. The scientists will cap their trip by traveling to Uganda to attend the International Primatological Society Congress.

Follow their experiences as they bounce along by plane, boat and automobile.

LAST UPDATE - MAR. 18 Rachel Santymire, Ph.D., is traveling the southwestern United States to study the black-footed ferret in the wild. Santymire and collaborators are looking at factors such as health, disease, reproduction and genetics to learn how to better conserve this endangered species.

LAST UPDATE - FEB. 15 Lisa Faust, Ph.D. is working with Charles and Lara Foley in Tarangire National Park. Using demographic data the Foley’s have collected over the past decade, Faust is developing a model to analyze population viability and management options for the park’s rapidly growing elephant population.

LAST UPDATE - FEB. 12 In collaboration with staff from the Jane Goodall Institute, Elizabeth Lonsdorf, Ph.D. is collecting baseline health data on chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park to aide park managers in the care and treatment of this declining population.

LAST UPDATE - FEB. 23 Dominic Travis, D.V.M., is working on the Ecosystem Health Project in Gombe National Park, analyzing ways to reduce disease transmission from chimpanzees to humans. He is also meeting with potential collaborators on a disease-transmission project, focusing on lions in Serengeti National Park.