Tammie Matson is a conservationist, speaker and adventurer. Inspired by a visit to Zimbabwe at the age of 15, she became a wildlife conservationist by the age of 21.

It was not a smooth sailing journey for Dr Matson, encountering many obstacles along the way. She stared down charges made by elephants, was stalked by lions and had rhinos walk up to her in the dead of night. Now, these unusual events have all become the normal life of Dr Matson. Now a worldwide expert on elephants Dr Matson has inspired thousands of children and adults to achieve their dreams. Dr Matson has had to overcome sexism in rural Namibia, a remote location where very few females have worked. Her work there lead to one of Namibia’s first conservation success stories. The black-faced impalas had been poached since the 1980s, and Dr Matson’s efforts led to the country’s first national management plan and the reintroduction of the subspecies.

Dr Matson has made countless achievements including establishing a project to reduce human-elephant conflict among the San Bushmen in north-east Namibia and leading the national threatened species program at World Wide Fund for Nature in Sydney. Dr Matson journey is a story to all young women to pursue their dreams. By the age of 25 Dr Matson was a wildlife researcher in Africa,  Doctor of Philosophy in zoology and a published author. Now a wife and mother of two young children, Dr Matson successfully juggles family life while co-running the Let Elephants Be Elephants campaign and managing her ethical African safari business Matson & Ridley Safaris.

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