Dr Tempe Adams
Adjunct scholar - Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana & UNSW
Dr Tempe Adams received her Bachelor of Environmental Science, majoring in Biology, from UNSW, graduating with First Class Honours for her thesis on using acoustics to monitor Blue Whale populations off Australia’s east and southern coasts. She completed her PhD in 2016 at UNSW, investigating how humans and elephants can coexist in Botswana, in collaboration with the wildlife NGO Elephants Without Borders (EWB).
Her research focuses on how elephants move, adapt, and survive in increasingly human-dominated landscapes — and how communities on the frontlines of conservation experience, respond to, and coexist with them. Through rigorous science, education, and inclusive conservation strategies, Dr Adams champions a future where elephants and people can thrive together.
Tempe is currently an adjunct scholar with the Okavango Research Institute at the University of Botswana and with UNSW. In these roles, she teaches and supervises postgraduate students from Botswana and Australia on conservation research projects within Botswana. She is also an active member of the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group and the Botswana Human-Wildlife Conflict Working Group.
Beyond research, Tempe co-created the Botswana Elephant Centre — the country’s first education hub dedicated to sharing accurate, accessible, and scientifically robust information about African elephants, where science, culture, and conservation meet.