The Elephant Ivory Project existed at a moment when elephant conservation, field exploration and wildlife forensics were beginning to intersect in a very public way. Its central question was practical: could biological samples collected from poorly represented elephant populations help improve the geographic DNA maps used to investigate seized ivory?
The original idea
The project connected expedition reporting with elephant-forensics research. Contemporary National Geographic coverage identifies filmmakers and explorers Trip Jennings and Andy Maser as key figures in the field project, alongside the scientific context of Dr Samuel Wasser’s elephant DNA work at the University of Washington.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the project also intersected with the work of conservation researchers John and Terese Hart, whose long experience in the region helped frame the importance of forest-elephant populations that were difficult to study directly.
Why dung mattered
Collecting elephant dung may sound less dramatic than tracking poachers or following ivory seizures, but it was scientifically useful precisely because it connected living populations to forensic reference data.
DNA from dung can help identify elephant populations and individuals without capturing the animal. Reference samples collected from under-represented areas can then contribute to larger genetic maps used to interpret ivory of unknown origin.
The 2011 field expedition
The 2011 expedition travelled through parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to collect elephant dung samples from areas where reference DNA was limited.
The surviving record is incomplete. The original website no longer exists in its original form, and not every journal entry or page can be reconstructed verbatim. Where original text is unavailable, this archive distinguishes between surviving source material and later reconstruction.
Read the reconstructed Expedition Journal →
What survives
Although much of the old site disappeared, the project left traces across the web: National Geographic articles, Outside coverage, conservation blogs and backlinks pointing to historic URLs including /project/ and /journal/.
Those external references allow parts of the project’s chronology, people and scientific purpose to be reconstructed with reasonable confidence.
The people around the project
The archive separates the filmmakers and expedition participants from the scientists and conservation researchers whose work formed the broader context. This avoids collapsing several different roles into one “project team”.
A project at the intersection of storytelling and science
One reason the Elephant Ivory Project remains interesting is that it did not sit neatly inside one category. It was partly expedition, partly conservation storytelling and partly support for a larger scientific effort.
That combination also explains why it attracted coverage beyond specialist wildlife publications. The field journey provided a narrative, while DNA forensics connected that journey to a much larger problem: how to understand where illegally traded ivory had come from.
From archive to modern research resource
The rebuilt site does more than preserve the original project. It follows the scientific and conservation threads that made the project meaningful in the first place: forest elephants, DNA forensics, ivory trafficking, elephant behaviour, population research, corridors and human-elephant conflict.
The archive therefore acts as the historical core of a larger elephant-research publication.
Explore the archive
The Elephant Ivory Project
The restored history of the original project, from Bangkok and Portland to the 2011 Congo expedition.
Read the project story →
02
Expedition Journal
A reconstructed field chronology of the search for elephant DNA samples in the DRC.
Follow the expedition →
03
Project Timeline
Key dates from 2010 and 2011 drawn from surviving contemporary reporting.
View the timeline →
04
People & Collaborators
Filmmakers, scientists, Congo researchers and local field teams documented in the surviving record.
Meet the people →
05
Press & Coverage
National Geographic, Outside and other surviving references that help reconstruct the project.
Browse the record →
06
Original Donation Page
A preserved historical endpoint from the original campaign. No active fundraising takes place here.
View historical page →
Why preserve it?
Conservation projects often vanish from the web long before their external references disappear. When that happens, readers following an old citation reach a dead end and the historical context is lost.
Restoring that context is worthwhile in its own right. It also provides a clear starting point for understanding why elephant DNA, forest populations and ivory trafficking became central themes on this domain.