Conservation Projects
I’m alarmed by the loss of biodiversity worldwide, but as a primatologist I’m particularly distressed with the dangerous rate of extinction facing primates.
Anxious to contribute to conservation solutions, I founded a nonprofit conservation project –– Photography Inspiring Children in Conservation. We inspire children to discover their scientific creativity and become lifelong learners and conservation leaders within their communities by providing them with skills, knowledge and a passion for conservation through the arts of photography, illustration and writing.
Check out the PICC Projects page for more details about our sessions in Suriname, Madagascar, Uganda, and Panama!
Join us!
Would you like to be a volunteer on one of the PICC sessions? We recently started a “Voluntourism” program, where volunteers join us in teaching the children both in the classroom and the forest, and also have opportunities to be part of the local community as a visitor/tourist. We are developing the Voluntour program for 2024 in Uganda, Rwanda and / or Madagascar. Stay tuned for dates, prices and details!
Building Capacity in Local Communities
As the COVID-19 pandemic closed Madagascar’s borders to international visitors in March 2020, the primate extinction crisis only became more dire and one of the only eco-friendly source of income, tourism, stopped entirely. People lacked food, income and health care, which only put more pressure on the forest and the endangered animals. In spite of these worrisome conditions, the local people who were supported with funds and resources continued to teach others in their communities about conservation issues and protect the habitats until tourism and their tourism-based incomes could restart. In this article which I wrote with colleagues, we discuss our various creative programs to support conservation and to build conservation and leadership capacity in Malagasy people during COIVD-19.
Conservation Coloring Books
In addition to teaching the children photography, part of our curriculum is environmental education through a local language coloring book that I write and illustrate specifically for each areas’ unique biodiversity with conservation issues and solutions. I create these books using my photographs and collaborating with local guides, scientists and conservation organizations. I aim for accuracy but also fun engagement through stories and line drawings, to provide effective conservation knowledge and activities that are easily put into practice by the children and their families. “Book One: Lemur Conservation Coloring and Activity Book” was published for SE Madagascar (2018); “Book Two: Masoala for NE Madagascar” was published online in 2020 and 2021; “Book Three: Azuero, Panama” was published in 2022 and 2023; “Book Four: Mountain Gorilla Conservation, Bwindi” was published in 2022 and 2023 to accompany our PICC programs in Buhoma-Bwindi, building local capacity and outreach with mountain gorilla conservation in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park communities (Uganda); and “Book Five: Primate Conservation, Jauaperi Extractive Reserve, Brazil Edition” was co-authored and translated into Portuguese by Brazilian primatologist Gabriela de faria Oliveira, published in 2023. The Jauaperi Extractive Reserve is nestled in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon and is one of the last remaining Amazonian forests which stands as a model of excellence in community-based conservation.