Disappearing Elephants is a collaboration between the New School’s International Field Program and
WWF – Hong Kong to deliver free online resources for educators across the globe. Our goal is to raise awareness and engage youth in learning about the modern threats to elephants around the world.

If you would like to contact us please send an email to contact@disappearingelephants.com.

Our team

Brianna Rowe is an adventurer who works and studies big global issues. She holds a Masters degree from The New School, focusing on International Development, Media, Conservation and Education. She has worked with youth in experiential learning environments, including leading student expeditions with National Geographic Student Expeditions, and hosting a kids film festival at the New York WILD Film Festival. Disappearing Elephants is her Masters thesis project, and she created another environmental project on climate change called Disappearing Ice. When not working or studying, Brianna likes to explore New York City by going to concerts and events, and running the city’s bridges, waterfronts and parks.

Karla Bajana was born and raised in Managua, Nicaragua, and earned her B.A at the University of Southern California in International Relations and Global Business. For the last three years, she has been working for the Nicaragua Permanent Mission to United Nations. Karla currently is a candidate for an MS in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at The New School. She is interested in sustainability initiatives in the non/for profit organizations. She got into the disappearing elephant project during Hong Kong IFP after having several conversations with the other team members, and gained a significant interest to create awareness on the elephant issue. She loves elephants because they are majestic animals that have a significant place in the world’s ecosystem.  On her free time, she enjoys traveling, running long distances and spending time with her small dog.

Michael Armstrong is a Michigander in New York City – he loves the urban environment, but also longs to explore nature. He is a math teacher at International Community High School in the South Bronx and graduate student of Urban Policy Analysis and Management at the New School. He has worked on environmental projects in the Bahamas, Nova Scotia and New York. Michael is currently researching urban climate change risk assessment and hazard and vulnerability mapping. He went to Hong Kong for the 2014 International Field Program at the New School, where he worked with Designing Hong Kong, an nonprofit focused on improving urban design by making it efficient, equitable and sustainable, and WWF-Hong Kong where he was on the Disappearing Elephants team. He tries to ride his bike whenever possible, dabbles in photography, and loves sports, especially playing soccer.

Peter Lucas teaches in the Graduate Program of International Affairs at the New School.  His teaching focuses on human rights with an emphasis on participatory media, documentary practice, the poetics of witnessing, human rights education, and youth media.  It’s the intersection of education and media packaging where the Disappearing Elephants project falls.  Quite often, the difference between the dissemination of information and its transformation is in the packaging: the additional knowledge, the networking, the curriculum, and the social action plan. This portal on elephants embodies this kind of transformative education.  Peter initiated the process and the theme, then stood back and watched the team create this portal.  It’s our hope that this project not only stirs awareness but also suggests the possibility of how to change the illegal trafficking of ivory.

Ella Colley hails from Australia (the land down under) and came to New York for the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School. The focus of Ella’s studies is using media as a tool for education and in turn, social change. She has worked with Indigenous youth in Australia, school students in Mexico and now visits and profiles New York City public schools for Insideschools. Ella has supported Disappearing Elephants through her involvement with the New School’s Engage Media Lab. Ella is a big adventurer and has been lucky enough to paraglide in Colombia, hike in the Spanish Pyrenees and watch World Cup football in Brazil. She speak Spanish well and Portuguese badly. Witnessing everyday absurdities, riding her bicycle and drinking good coffee make Ella a very happy lady.

Emma Funk is a designer, developer, and researcher who focuses on social impact projects. She studies Computer Science and History at Brown University, and became involved with the Engage Media Lab and the Disappearing Elephants project during a semester studying in the Design & Technology program at Parsons the New School for Design. From a love of childhood elephant stories to volunteering in Thailand, she has long been interested in elephant conservation.

Carly Rice was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She loves to explore—whether she’s learning about the ecology of Belize’s jungles, surfing the coast of British Columbia, or establishing a sustainable, off-grid community in rural Maine. She returned home to earn a degree in Environment & Urban Sustainability from Ryerson University. A lover of pencils and paints, she uses art to communicate important world issues and explore potential solutions. Carly continues to do so as a part of the Disappearing Elephants team, helping to tell the story of the elephants. Carly likes to spend her time playing the ukulele, riding her blue bicycle, and wandering.