Researching the surprising ecological afterlife of elephants

Researching the surprising ecological afterlife of elephants

By Nate Scharping - Marquette Today Marquette professors and students are co-leading an international team conducting first-of-its-kind research into the rich array of life made possible each time an elephant dies and its carcass decomposes in the wild. In March 2024, in the middle of Novalee Sweeney’s first trip to South Africa’s Kruger National Park, the Marquette microbial ecology doctoral student stumbled into the middle of both a tragedy an…