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Elephant Rumbles: Patrick Freeman at TEDxLivermore

1,490 views · Published 10 September 2013 · 5:58 · Indexed 5 October 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2013 · Nonprofits & Activism

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This artistic piece written and performed by Patrick Freeman bridges the science of earth systems and the medium of the spoken word.  It is a result of Stanford University's Senior Reflection Program for students in scientific disciplines.  

Andrew Todhunter, writer and film-maker, and Susan McConnell, a neurobiologist and wildlife and conversation photographer at Stanford, created the Senior Reflection Program in 2010 for science majors to explore and develop their scientific passion through a year-long creative process.  It was created on the belief that there is great value in bringing scientists, artists, engineers and humanists together, bridging CP Snow's two cultures of art and science.

Patrick Freeman is a 2013 graduate from Stanford where he studied interdisciplinary environmental science as an Earth Systems major.  He is currently in a Master's program at Stanford earning an advanced degree in conservation communication. Patrick spent two summers living at a remote water hole in Namibia studying the social behavior of elephants with the world-renowned elephant conservation researcher Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell. These experiences and his lifelong love of elephants, and concern for their protection, formed the basis for this performance piece. Patrick spent his summer between his undergraduate and graduate programs working for Transfrontier Africa, focusing on endangered black rhinos, but he is destined to return to elephant conservation - an area of great passion for him, as evidenced by this performance. 

To learn more about the Senior Reflection Program at Stanford see http://www.stanford.edu/~suemcc/TSR/.  To learn more about Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell see http://www.stanford.edu/group/CCB/cgi-bin/ccb/content/caitlin-oconnell-rodwell.  To learn more about the Transfrontier Africa program see http://www.transfrontierafrica.co.za/.

TEDxLivermore is organized by people from Livermore California who believe in the power of ideas to change the world.  The mutual dependence of education and innovation means schools, industry and the broader community can join together to build an ecosystem where innovation + education can cross-fertilize and thrive.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

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