Growing up, Alexis Chavez wanted to be like Jane Goodall, the revered British researcher who left England at 26 and headed for the wilds of Tanzania to study chimpanzees.
Chavez, 25, followed suit after graduating from The New School University in New York City with a degree in environmental conservation.
“I thought I’d better see if I could live in the middle of nowhere with animals before I committed to embarking on this career,” she said. “So, I went and volunteered at various projects in Namibia and South Africa. That’s where my journey began.”