My Flight to Help the Lemur Plight!
Donation protected
The short(ish) story...
Hello!
My name is Alicia Lamb, and I am a first year graduate student in the Ecology and Evolution program at Stony Brook University. I started my Go-Fund-Me campaign in order to help fund both my dream and my thesis research for graduate school. Long story short, I need a ticket to Madagascar. I grew up watching Zoboomafoo with the Kratt brothers and their Coquerel's sifaka co-host, and from this, I developed quite the interest in lemurs and Madagascar as a whole. There has never been a place in the world that I have felt more drawn to and since I was six-years-old I have known that I would get there someday. There are more than 100 species and subspecies of lemurs, and they only live on the island of Madagascar. However, Madagascar is one of the poorest nations in the entire world, therefore, the Malagasy people resort to whatever means necessary to survive, including destroying the forests and hunting the lemurs. Because of this, more than 90% of lemur species are threatened with extinction.
As a lemur enthusiast, I obviously feel a calling to help. Therefore, I am here to ask for a plane ticket to Madagascar in order to conduct my research on the effects of stress on the Milne Edwards’ sifaka (pictured below). Stress has been well studied and is known to have serious adverse effects on lemurs, as well as most other animals, and even humans. Therefore, I will be looking at the stress levels (cortisol) and comparing the differences in behavior as well as differences in the bacterial composition of the gut microbiome in sifaka groups living in “pristine” forests versus groups living in humanly disturbed forests.
Through this research, I hope to come to a better understanding of how lemurs are impacted by human presence. This is crucial in Madagascar, as it is a country with an ever increasing population and ecotourism is one of the main sources of income. I also hope to develop a behavioral indicator of stress by looking at the percentage of vigilance (alertness) behavior. Finally, I hope to develop a bacterial indicator of stress by looking for fecal bacteria that are either consistently overrepresented and/or absent. When conservation decisions are made, wild species and populations that are undergoing increased levels of stress should be a priority due to their overall health and reproduction risks. My goal is to have researchers and conservation biologists using my new, non-invasive indicators of stress as a way of determining where to focus their conservation efforts.
Any donators will have their name mentioned in the acknowledgment section of any paper published based on the data collected this summer. I will also purchase a handmade Malagasy gift for you in order to truly show my appreciation for your donation. Thank you!
The longer version (for those of you who want more information)
For as long as I can remember, I have known exactly where I want to go in life, both physically and academically: Madagascar. Having loved Madagascar since I was six-years-old, I have long been aware of its beauty and extreme biological diversity. I ache to share Madagascar with as many people as I can in order to call attention to all that threatens it. Heavy deforestation, mining, poverty, and hunting are rapidly destroying Madagascar’s exceedingly high percentage of endemic species. I wish to help preserve that biodiversity, particularly the remaining lemur populations. With only about ten percent of their original forests left, it is not surprising that lemurs are the most endangered group of mammals on the planet. As a first-year graduate student at Stony Brook University, I am finally in a position to act on the lemur conservation I preach, but I have an unavoidable obstacle standing in my way… the plane ticket to get me there.
Along with acclimating to graduate school, working as a reptile educator, and taking intense course work, I have spent the first six months of my graduate career developing a suitable project to conduct for my thesis. There were a million different directions that I could have taken my research, but I knew that it needed to include two major components for me to remain passionate about it and truly committed: lemurs and conservation. This summer, my research will be focused on the endangered Milne-Edwards' sifaka, Propithecus edwardsi, one of the largest lemurs still in existence. They look like large black teddy bears with a white saddle on their back and intense amber eyes. They leap from tree to tree with unimaginable precision, and when they are alarmed they yell “SHE-fock,” hence their name. Previous studies on these sifakas under stressful conditions in selectively logged areas have demonstrated that there are serious negative health effects especially on body size and reproductive success of the females. While some wild animals give obvious behavioral cues that indicate they are undergoing stress, other animals such as lemurs are often more difficult to interpret. I will look at cortisol, a trusted measure of stress, and compare it among Propithecus edwardsi groups living in forests of varying amounts of human disturbance to see if stress levels increase as the amount of human activity increases. Surveys will be used to collect vigilance (alertness) behavior data as well as fecal samples for bacterial gut microbiome composition analysis and cortisol levels. Through the comparison of the cortisol levels in varying stressful conditions, the project aims to determine if increased vigilance behavior could serve as a behavioral indicator of a stressed population. Also, by comparing the gut microbiome composition with cortisol levels, the under or over representation of certain bacterial genera could prove to be an effective bacterial indicator of stress in wild lemurs. If cortisol levels, vigilance behavior, and the gut microbiome composition do not differ among sites, it suggests that P. edwardsi is not as stressed by human presence as initially hypothesized.
My research has the potential to provide a behavioral stress indicator and a bacterial stress indicator of a primate in serious conservation need. Both of these indicators can be found in non-invasive and therefore, non-stressful ways. This research could then be translated to other lemur species and ideally other species of primates as a means of determining the overall health of certain species and populations. This will aid in informing conservation biologists which species and populations need the most conservation efforts.
In order to fund my research, I have been going through the rigorous process of applying for fellowships and grants. These funds will cover the expenses of the Malagasy graduate student I am mentoring, tents, research station fees, local guides, food, supplies for fecal sample collection, preservation and analysis, etc. However, I will not receive money from my sponsors in time to buy a plane ticket. It is a devastating feeling to realize that all of the time and emotion I have invested in this project could be forfeited in the end if I am unable to find the funds to get myself there. If my story has inspired you to donate money for my plane ticket, you can guarantee that it will be for a good cause. As a way of thanking you, I will mention your name in the acknowledgment section of any paper I publish based on the data that I collect this summer. Also, I will pick you up a handmade gift from Madagascar while I am there. If you have any more questions about my project, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at [email redacted]. I will be happy to provide more information and I am curious what you think of the project!
The lemurs cannot thank you enough for your contribution and neither can I.
All the best,
Alicia
Hello!
My name is Alicia Lamb, and I am a first year graduate student in the Ecology and Evolution program at Stony Brook University. I started my Go-Fund-Me campaign in order to help fund both my dream and my thesis research for graduate school. Long story short, I need a ticket to Madagascar. I grew up watching Zoboomafoo with the Kratt brothers and their Coquerel's sifaka co-host, and from this, I developed quite the interest in lemurs and Madagascar as a whole. There has never been a place in the world that I have felt more drawn to and since I was six-years-old I have known that I would get there someday. There are more than 100 species and subspecies of lemurs, and they only live on the island of Madagascar. However, Madagascar is one of the poorest nations in the entire world, therefore, the Malagasy people resort to whatever means necessary to survive, including destroying the forests and hunting the lemurs. Because of this, more than 90% of lemur species are threatened with extinction.
As a lemur enthusiast, I obviously feel a calling to help. Therefore, I am here to ask for a plane ticket to Madagascar in order to conduct my research on the effects of stress on the Milne Edwards’ sifaka (pictured below). Stress has been well studied and is known to have serious adverse effects on lemurs, as well as most other animals, and even humans. Therefore, I will be looking at the stress levels (cortisol) and comparing the differences in behavior as well as differences in the bacterial composition of the gut microbiome in sifaka groups living in “pristine” forests versus groups living in humanly disturbed forests.
Through this research, I hope to come to a better understanding of how lemurs are impacted by human presence. This is crucial in Madagascar, as it is a country with an ever increasing population and ecotourism is one of the main sources of income. I also hope to develop a behavioral indicator of stress by looking at the percentage of vigilance (alertness) behavior. Finally, I hope to develop a bacterial indicator of stress by looking for fecal bacteria that are either consistently overrepresented and/or absent. When conservation decisions are made, wild species and populations that are undergoing increased levels of stress should be a priority due to their overall health and reproduction risks. My goal is to have researchers and conservation biologists using my new, non-invasive indicators of stress as a way of determining where to focus their conservation efforts.
Any donators will have their name mentioned in the acknowledgment section of any paper published based on the data collected this summer. I will also purchase a handmade Malagasy gift for you in order to truly show my appreciation for your donation. Thank you!
The longer version (for those of you who want more information)
For as long as I can remember, I have known exactly where I want to go in life, both physically and academically: Madagascar. Having loved Madagascar since I was six-years-old, I have long been aware of its beauty and extreme biological diversity. I ache to share Madagascar with as many people as I can in order to call attention to all that threatens it. Heavy deforestation, mining, poverty, and hunting are rapidly destroying Madagascar’s exceedingly high percentage of endemic species. I wish to help preserve that biodiversity, particularly the remaining lemur populations. With only about ten percent of their original forests left, it is not surprising that lemurs are the most endangered group of mammals on the planet. As a first-year graduate student at Stony Brook University, I am finally in a position to act on the lemur conservation I preach, but I have an unavoidable obstacle standing in my way… the plane ticket to get me there.
Along with acclimating to graduate school, working as a reptile educator, and taking intense course work, I have spent the first six months of my graduate career developing a suitable project to conduct for my thesis. There were a million different directions that I could have taken my research, but I knew that it needed to include two major components for me to remain passionate about it and truly committed: lemurs and conservation. This summer, my research will be focused on the endangered Milne-Edwards' sifaka, Propithecus edwardsi, one of the largest lemurs still in existence. They look like large black teddy bears with a white saddle on their back and intense amber eyes. They leap from tree to tree with unimaginable precision, and when they are alarmed they yell “SHE-fock,” hence their name. Previous studies on these sifakas under stressful conditions in selectively logged areas have demonstrated that there are serious negative health effects especially on body size and reproductive success of the females. While some wild animals give obvious behavioral cues that indicate they are undergoing stress, other animals such as lemurs are often more difficult to interpret. I will look at cortisol, a trusted measure of stress, and compare it among Propithecus edwardsi groups living in forests of varying amounts of human disturbance to see if stress levels increase as the amount of human activity increases. Surveys will be used to collect vigilance (alertness) behavior data as well as fecal samples for bacterial gut microbiome composition analysis and cortisol levels. Through the comparison of the cortisol levels in varying stressful conditions, the project aims to determine if increased vigilance behavior could serve as a behavioral indicator of a stressed population. Also, by comparing the gut microbiome composition with cortisol levels, the under or over representation of certain bacterial genera could prove to be an effective bacterial indicator of stress in wild lemurs. If cortisol levels, vigilance behavior, and the gut microbiome composition do not differ among sites, it suggests that P. edwardsi is not as stressed by human presence as initially hypothesized.
My research has the potential to provide a behavioral stress indicator and a bacterial stress indicator of a primate in serious conservation need. Both of these indicators can be found in non-invasive and therefore, non-stressful ways. This research could then be translated to other lemur species and ideally other species of primates as a means of determining the overall health of certain species and populations. This will aid in informing conservation biologists which species and populations need the most conservation efforts.
In order to fund my research, I have been going through the rigorous process of applying for fellowships and grants. These funds will cover the expenses of the Malagasy graduate student I am mentoring, tents, research station fees, local guides, food, supplies for fecal sample collection, preservation and analysis, etc. However, I will not receive money from my sponsors in time to buy a plane ticket. It is a devastating feeling to realize that all of the time and emotion I have invested in this project could be forfeited in the end if I am unable to find the funds to get myself there. If my story has inspired you to donate money for my plane ticket, you can guarantee that it will be for a good cause. As a way of thanking you, I will mention your name in the acknowledgment section of any paper I publish based on the data that I collect this summer. Also, I will pick you up a handmade gift from Madagascar while I am there. If you have any more questions about my project, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at [email redacted]. I will be happy to provide more information and I am curious what you think of the project!
The lemurs cannot thank you enough for your contribution and neither can I.
All the best,
Alicia
Organizer
Alicia Lamb
Organizer
Binghamton, NY