KateThompson

I am a medical anthropologist and conservationist. I am also National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, a published scientific illustrator and doctoral candidate in the Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences at Stony Brook University. As such, I work to communicate science through art, research and resolve human-wildlife conflict and provide humanitarian aid. I conduct my research in villages within the dry forests and salt-water floodplains of Western Madagascar. There I work to understand the social, cultural and economic factors that drive rural people to poach animals, both for profit and subsistence. I believe that providing a voice for marginalized native populations is a vital part of conservation both in Madagascar and around the world. My work is part conservation biology and part advocacy. My research allows me to understand the priorities of local people and wildlife populations; my art helps me communicate this information to wider audiences, from Malagasy villagers to American millennials alike

November 2018