Andrea Baden, PhD

Since 2005, I have been studying the behavioral ecology of black-and-white ruffed lemurs in Mangevo (Ranomafana National Park), a research site I established in southeastern Madagascar. For this project, I have been lucky enough to team up with Dr. Douglas Daly, Curator of Amazonian Botany at the New York Botanical Garden and resident ramy (Busuracea) expert; Sarah Federman, a Ph.D. student in Yale's School of Forestry; and Jeannie Raharimpionona, a Ph.D. student at the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Together, we are combining evolutionary biology and conservation management in a project that allows us the opportunity to understand a complex actor-network relationship between lemurs and a newly revised, taxonomically rich tree genus, while also furthering the conservation of a critically endangered lemur species. We hope to tackle important conservation questions by taking a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the complex interactions between Madagascar's unique and endangered flora and fauna.

March 2013