Madagascar lemur expert leads discussion at LI Game Farm

On Friday, August 21, Ranger Eric Powers from the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery (CEED) held a special virtual discussion with lemur expert, Dr. Patricia Wright at the Long Island Game Farm, which is home to a small colony of Ring-tailed lemurs. Surrounded by lemurs, Powers and Dr. Wright spoke about these amazing creatures, many species of which are endangered in their natural habitat. The event raised funds for CEED and for lemur conservation. The discussion will be of special interest to young people interested in careers in conservation, as Powers will ask Dr. Wright to explain how she became interested in lemurs and how she rediscovered a species of lemur thought to be extinct. They will also discuss the enormous challenges of research and conservation in the era of COVID-19.

Dr. Wright is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and the author of For the Love of Lemurs. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Indianapolis Prize for conservation. She also founded Centre ValBio, a modern research campus in the rainforest of Madagascar. The center normally relies for funding on visits from tourists and researchers from around the world. These sources of income have fallen sharply during the global COVID-19 pandemic.