Jennifer Pokorny, Ph.D.

Jen leads current fundraising and Board development efforts, as well as manages TEI’s larger program initiatives. She also oversees all education initiatives, from developing curriculum and supervising and training educators, to evaluating the efficacy of TEI programs. Having taught students from elementary school through the undergraduate level, she is passionate about science education and raising scientific literacy by using interactive techniques, such as problem-based learning, to motivate children to explore and investigate the world around them. Jen received her PhD in Psychology from Emory University in 2009 and has a BA from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research background is quite diverse, spanning areas such as systems neuroscience, animal behavior, developmental cognitive neuroscience, and the contemplative sciences. 

Matthew Plotnik

Matt is currently the head of music marketing for iTunes and Apple Music at Apple in California. Most recently, Matt worked on music partnerships and marketing for the eastern U.S. for Twitter. Matt also had experience as a senior director on the digital marketing team at Sony Music, focusing primarily on the formulation and implementation of fully integrated interactive marketing plans for all of Sony Music’s international priority artists. He worked at Sony Music for over five years, and in that time, rose through the ranks to become one of the company’s youngest marketing directors. He was one of only five applicants to be chosen for Sony Music’s highly selective management development program and the only one of the five applicants to secure an executive level position at the end of the program. He has his BA from the University of Southern California and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Matt oversees all marketing, social media and business development initiatives for TEI.

Thitibon “Cherry” Plotnik, D.V.M.

Cherry first decided she wanted to be an elephant veterinarian while interning at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand during her vet school studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Graduating in 2008, she left her hometown of Bangkok to work as the senior veterinarian for the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation in Chiang Rai. There, she was responsible for the care of more than 30 elephants, but also found time to help TEI with its elephant research projects. Most recently, Cherry was senior veterinarian for the Treasure our Elephants Fund Foundation, which has been working tirelessly to develop and coordinate the implementation of new Thai laws on the regulation of elephant ivory, animal welfare and elephant management. She helps TEI with all matters “elephant” and is interested in helping us to better educate people around the world about elephants.

Hunter Doughty

Hunter is currently a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, UK, where she studies the illegal wildlife trade. More specifically, she researches effective and repeatable methods of changing consumer demand for wildlife products in Southeast Asia. Hunter has a Master’s degree in conservation biology from the University of Virginia where she studied the impacts of local hunting on the carnivores of forested Africa, and through this work developed a strong interest in species under severe hunting pressure. Her experiences in science and conservation have ranged from carnivore ecology, to wildlife sanctuaries, environmental law, elephant cognition, and large-scale meta-analyses. Hunter joined the Think Elephants team in 2014 as a Research Assistant on our work in northern Thailand, and has since become our Social Media Manager. Hunter believes that through our research and educational programs, Think Elephants can both have a genuine impact on protecting Asian and African elephants, and further larger global efforts to conserve nature using practical, effectual long-term solutions.

Aliyah Meyer

Aliyah is a senior in the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, City University of New York. She is majoring in biology and public policy with a concentration in wildlife conservation. Aliyah intends to go on to veterinary school to work with exotic animals, ideally elephants. When she’s not studying or working with TEI, Aliyah is a peer health education volunteer and the president of Hunter College’s pre-vet club. She loves reading, playing with her three dogs, and spending time with friends. Aliyah became involved with TEI in 2017 because she loves elephants and believes that education is an integral part of the conservation of these incredible animals. 

Joshua Plotnik, Ph.D.

Josh founded TEI in 2011 with an initial meeting with a NYC middle school principal, a friend of his since childhood. Currently, Josh is assistant professor of psychology at Hunter College, and teaches in the animal behavior and conservation program. He has published his elephant intelligence research in some of science’s top peer-reviewed journals, and has had his work covered by more than 300 media outlets since 2006. He has an MA and a PhD from Emory University, a BS from Cornell University, and a certificate in elephant appreciation, conferred by one ornery young bull elephant who taught Josh that humility is a requirement when working with one of the world’s most remarkable species. Josh serves as both President of the Board and Executive Director of TEI, and oversees all administration, staff and programs.

Carly Anderson, CPA

Carly Anderson is a senior financial services consultant with over 7 years expertise in providing consulting, valuation, accounting, audit and assurance services and risk management for investment managers, advisors, private equity funds, hedge funds, fund of funds and other financial institutions. Carly’s diverse financial and accounting background makes her well-suited as the Treasurer for Think Elephants International. She is experienced in financial statement preparation and analysis, recalculation and analysis of management fees, carried interest/waterfall calculations, capital calls, distributions, partners’ capital balances, financial highlights and valuations. Previously, Ms. Shapiro was a manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP in the investment management and audit division. Currently she is a senior financial services consultant at Constellation Investment Consulting and focuses on working with hedge fund clients as an outsourced CFO, performing valuations, due diligences, analyzing financial transactions relating to dispute resolution matters and audits. She received her B.S. Honors Degree in Accounting with a double minor in Economics and Management Information Systems from the University of Delaware. She is a New York State Certified Public Accountant.

Shauna Leven, Esq.

Shauna Leven joined Global Witness as Director of Anti-Corruption Campaigns in January of 2015. Before joining Global Witness, Shauna most recently served as the Executive Director of the René Cassin Foundation, a London-based human rights advocacy and campaigning organization. Prior to that she worked as a Legal Advisor to the Government of Liberia, in Monrovia, Liberia and in litigation at McGuireWoods LLP in New York, USA. Shauna holds a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia and degrees in International Relations and Economics from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Shauna also serves as a trustee for a number of charities and not-for-profit organizations, including Ebony Horse Club based in London.

Nickolaus Sackett, Esq.

After graduating from Tulane Law School and a decade of practicing tax law and corporate litigation, which included work for clients such as Samsung, AMD, Home Depot, and MassMutual, Nickolaus has turned his focus towards conservation and animal welfare issues. Following a 2014 chance meeting with Josh in Thailand while volunteering at an elephant sanctuary, Nickolaus returned to the U.S. determined to leverage his legal skills for the benefit of animals worldwide. Working with various non-profits since, Nickolaus has met directly with USFWS officials and New York and California state legislators in the course of his advocating efforts for elephants, dogs, and bobcats. In 2016, Nickolaus will complete a Master’s degree in Management and Conservation of Species in Trade from UNIA in Spain.

Prof. Frans de Waal, Ph.D.

Prof. Frans de Waal is the C. H. Candler Professor in Emory University’s Psychology Department, and was both Dr. Pokorny’s and Dr. Plotnik’s dissertation advisor. His many works include Our Inner Ape, Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes, The Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons for a Kinder Society and The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates. Dr. de Waal is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, and directs the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. He was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in 2007. Dr. de Waal has supported Think Elephants International since its inception, and continues to be involved with its research team.