{"id":27649,"date":"2019-08-14T05:30:43","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T10:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=27649"},"modified":"2019-08-14T00:37:32","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T05:37:32","slug":"austin-peay-state-university-alumni-lynn-von-hagen-realizes-lifelong-dream-working-with-elephants-locals-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2019\/08\/14\/austin-peay-state-university-alumni-lynn-von-hagen-realizes-lifelong-dream-working-with-elephants-locals-in-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Peay State University alumni Lynn Von Hagen realizes lifelong dream working with elephants, locals in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – Austin Peay State University (APSU) graduate Lynn Von Hagen\u2019s work with elephants in the Kenyan bush is the culmination of a dream for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have loved elephants and wildlife as long as I can remember,\u201d Von Hagen, 46, of Nashville, said. \u201cI always wanted to make an impact through conservation of the natural world, while also helping people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lynn<\/a>

Lynn Von Hagen is developing community workshops to increase livelihood stability and reduce human-elephant conflict. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

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She\u2019s doing her Ph.D. work as a Presidential Research Fellow at Auburn University, studying human-elephant conflict and elephant movement and behavior in Kenya.<\/p>\n

on Hagen also is working on developing community workshops to increase livelihood stability and reduce human-elephant conflict. The current project she\u2019s working on is Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya.<\/p>\n

Von Hagen came back to school at Austin Peay State University as a nontraditional student to pursue a lifelong goal of being a conservation biologist and graduated in 2015 with a degree in zoology.<\/p>\n

She returned to school after a 20-year break from education.<\/p>\n

\"Lynn<\/a>

Lynn Von Hagen working with Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAPSU is special to me because I felt like the daunting task of being a returning student was assuaged by the kindness of both the teachers and my fellow students,\u201d she added. \u201cI received a lot of support during my time at APSU and made lifelong friends and colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

UniqueScientists.com recently profiled Von Hagen, and she talks about being a woman in STEM and the additional challenges of working \u201cin the remote Kenyan bush, daily driv(ing) out into the field in less than desirable conditions, track elephants, engage with local native communities, and do a whole bunch of other stuff that women \u2018aren\u2019t supposed to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

To Learn More<\/h3>\n