Dr. Nikki Savvides
Dr. Nikki Savvides is an environmental ethnographer studying the impact of tourism on non-human species. Her area of specialization for the past decade has been the welfare of captive elephants used for tourism in Thailand.
Nikki is interested in developing more ethical tourist practices that are devoted to improving the lives of captive elephants, while including Indigenous people who depend on these animals for their livelihood in decision-making processes.
In this vein, her forthcoming book, "After the Forests: Thailand's Captive Elephants and Their People", explores mahout-elephant relationships in Thailand and welfare/conservation projects set up to help both partners to these relationships.