Wright to speak on tropical ecosystems

Patricia C. Wright, a MacArthur Award-winning behavioral anthropologist who is leading an international effort to conserve the rain forests of Madagascar, will speak on her research and the challenges of conserving the world's tropical ecosystems at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26 in Davis Auditorium of Palamountain Hall.

Patricia C. Wright

A faculty member at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Wright is executive director of the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) and a member of National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration.

While on an expedition to the remote Ranomafana rain forest in Madagascar in 1986, Wright and colleagues discovered a new species of lemur, the golden bamboo lemur. When the forest was threatened by timber exploitation, Wright spearheaded an integrated conservation and development project aimed at conserving endemic flora and fauna as well as rural development, education, and promotion of health services in surrounding areas.

Researchers around the world, including Skidmore's Christina Grassi, visiting professor of anthropology, have conducted studies in the Ranomafana National Park that Wright was instrumental in creating. Grassi has conducted all of her field research there, focusing on the smallest of the three species of bamboo lemur found only in Madagascar. Two of her students at Skidmore, senior Alex Kasprak and junior Daniella Rabino, also have done field work in Ranomafana.

Wright's talk is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology in cooperation with the Speakers Bureau, the Departments of Biology and Environmental Studies and the Environmental Action Committee. The public is invited at no charge.