Asiatic Black Bear Expert Team Co-chair

Elizabeth (Liz) serves San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a researcher 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, Free the Bears, and the Orchid and Bear Specialist Groups, 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 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, and seeks conservation solutions that are positive for wildlife and local communities.