Our Trip to Thailand

Earth Expeditions and Denver Zoo's Toyota Elephant Passage Team

In June 2008, Denver Zoo staff were invited to participate in the Wild Research Consortium created by Project Dragonfly at Miami University of Ohio and Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. The Consortium provided Brad Parks, Director of Public Programs, and Dale Leeds, Curator of Toyota Elephant Passage, a travel grant for participation in Miami’s Earth Expeditions course on “Buddhism and Conservation” in Thailand. Brad and Dale have been involved in the planning for Toyota Elephant Passage since the inception and saw the course as an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the culture and conservation of southeast Asia. Volunteer Docent, Joanna Scott Picher, and Seth Frankel, Managing Director of ECOS Communications, applied and were accepted for the course as well. Joanna has been a volunteer at the zoo since 1999 and is active in elephant conservation projects. ECOS has worked with Denver Zoo on exhibit graphics for more than 20 years and currently is creating the interpretation areas in Toyota Elephant Passage. In addition to traveling to Thailand for the Earth Expedition course, Denver Zoo staff also saw an opportunity to pursue our own Toyota Elephant Passage research.