Hi. I'm Maggie.
📖 latest publication 📖
Schaffer-Smith et al. Tracking a blue wave of ephemeral water across arid southern Africa, Environ. Res. Lett. 2022.

I'm an NSF GRF-funded ecology PhD candidate in the Clark and Alberts labs at Duke University. Here, you can read about my research on how water access, climate, and fencing influence herbivore behaviors on African savannas; check out my TED-style talk on elephant conservation; or watch my recent talk about antelope declines. Stay tuned for news on my conservation postdoc at Cornell, starting this fall.

I also write short fiction and data science tutorials; teach grade schoolers about savannas; seek to decolonize my ecology; and play classical guitar. I am at my happiest snapping photos in the African bush or waist-deep in the Eno River, stalking my subjects like a heron.