Frog Conservation, Madagascar

Hello!  My name is Sean and I am a biogeographer, artist, and musician living in Richmond, Virginia (USA) where I work as a GIS analyst and GPS technician.  My greatest passions are conservation, specifically that of reptiles and amphibians, and inspiring people to be curious about their natural world.

I am raising money for travel to Madagascar to assist in a conservation project as a volunteer: learning how to care for and breed Madagascar's frogs.  

Why is this important? Frogs are important.  They indicate when our environment is doing poorly, they regulate pests, and they provide us with stuff: medicine and biomedical advances, antimicrobials, and inspiration for tools and materials that benefit our daily lives.  Also, they are just generally delightful and fun.

Additionally, Madagascar is a haven for frogs, with potentially over 300 species.  Most of these species are endemic, meaning they are from Madagascar and no where else.  When one of these frog species disappears from Madagascar, it disappears from our world.   They are now threatened by an apocalyptic fungus, invasive toads, habitat destruction and more.


The project I am raising money for is not just about frogs.  It's largely about people.  Madagascar is very poor and populated; farming methods that were once sustainable are no longer so.  Large, hardwood trees are cut down and sold illegally to turn a profit.  While that is sad, what is more sad is that the continuation of these practices will doom the island's people and wildlife; the environment will become unsuitable for farming, prone to erosion, landslides, and more.  

Fortunately, the Malagasy people are becoming widely aware that the forest and its wildlife are their greatest assets in many forms, one of which is ecotourism.  People of the island and all over the world are working together to protect the future of Madagascar: its economy, its people, and the environment.  These issues are not restricted to Madagascar; this project will serve as a model to better address these problems as they arrive on our doorstep.  Our world is vastly interconnected; this project and these frogs are part of protecting it.  


The money I am raising will be used for my travel to and from Madagascar.  The organization I am working with is unable to assist me with travel costs.  While I am in the process of writing 2 grants and exploring funding and travel cost assistance options, the likelihood of securing funding within the timeline of when I am needed for this project is very slim.  I am requesting $2,300 for a flight through Turkish Airlines from New York, USA to Johannesburg, South Africa to Antananarivo, Madagascar and back.  Flights departing between May and June cost approximately $2,100 to $2,400, with other dates and airlines being more expensive.  On the island, my housing and transporation will be covered by the organization.  Any personal travel or expenses within Madagascar, food, malaria prophlaxis, etc. I will be covering.    

This project means a lot to me and comes at a great expense.  Volunteering with this project will require me to take months off work, cover my own health insurance and rent while I am gone, and more.  I was chosen for my experience breeding frogs here in the US and my previous experience with this group, conservation in Madagascar (2011), and my combined interests in conservation, herpetology, sustainability and ecotourism.  For me, this is no glorified vacation; this is an investment in my future and I will be doing hard work with great devotion. These are necessary sacrifices for an advance in my career, and my career is one that serves us all: science.  As I share with you all my experience and our work, I believe it will become important to you, too.

Thank you in advance for donating and, should you not donate, thank you for reading.  I will be volunteering for this project with or without assistance, but any assistance is greatly appreciated and will help support a sooner departure date, a longer duration of stay, and greater work.  Should you have any questions regarding this page or the work I will be doing, feel free to contact me!  I would be happy to share any information.

I look forward to sharing my work with you,

Thanks,

Sean