Dr Iain Douglas-Hamilton dedicated his life to campaigning to protect African elephants, becoming a pioneering conservationist and a world-leading expert on their behaviour in the wild.
Iain's 1972 doctoral thesis on elephant social dynamics and movements shaped contemporary understanding of elephant societies and informed conservation strategies across Africa.
As the founder of Save the Elephants in 1993, he revolutionised elephant conservation with the use of GPS tracking technology, which provided critical data to combat poaching, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict.
Iain was recognised for his outstanding individual achievement in the application of geographical research, wildlife conservation and environmental research studies by the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society Prize in 2025.
Read an extended tribute to Iain (via The BBC).
