Patrica Wright
Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology
SUNY Stony Brook
Lemurs Lost: Past, Present and Future of Madagascar
March 16th, 2015
Academic Building A G008, 5:05 PM
Biography
Dr. Patricia Chapple Wright is a Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York. She has made major contributions in the biology, ecology, conservation and behavior of living primates. She discovered a new species of lemur, Hapalemur aureus in 1987 and helped establish Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park to protect it. Her research concerns focus on behavior, senescence, parasitology, predation, rainforest ecology, climate change and conservation studies of Malagasy lemurs. Patricia Wright earned a BA from Hood College in 1966 and a PhD in Anthropology from City University of New York in 1985. Dr. Wright has led over 40 field expeditions to Peru, Paraguay, East Malaysia, the Philippines and Madagascar. She has held professional appointments at Duke (1983-91) and Stony Brook Universities (1991-2015) and is the Executive Director of the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments at Stony Brook University (1992-2015) and the Founder and International Director of the Centre ValBio research station at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. She has authored over 150 scientific publications and is the holder of many high honors. She is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2004) as well as other professional associations. Dr. Wright is the recipient of various awards including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1989-1994) Hauptman Woodward Pioneer in Science Medal (2008), Distinguished Primatologist Award from American Society of Primatology (2008), honorary degrees from Hood College and the University of Antananarivo and a Distinguished Alumnae Award from Hood College (2008). In 2014 she was the first woman to receive the Indianapolis Prize for Animal Conservation. Her books include “Madagascar: Forests of our Ancestors”, “Tarsiers: Past, Present and Future”, “High Moon over the Amazon: My Quest to Understand the Monkeys of the Night” and “For the Love of Lemurs: My Life in the Wilds of Madagascar.” Dr. Wright was a member of the National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration, and NGS Conservation Trust. She continues to be on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Duke Lemur Center, a member of the Madagascar Fauna Group and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) Primate Specialist Group. Her work has been featured in the film “Me and Isaac Newton” directed by Michael Apted (1999) and IMAX’s “Island of Lemurs: Madagascar 3D” directed by David Douglas (2014). In 2013 Dr. Wright was elected to the American Philosophical Society. The Government of Madagascar has honored her with the “Knight of the National Order” in 1995, the “Officier Medal” in 2003 and the “Commandeur Medal” in 2012, the only foreigner to receive all three honors.
Reading
Reading will be posted to the EvoS blackboard group. Anyone with a Binghamton University email address can request to be added to the blackboard group by emailing EvoS[at]binghamton[dot]edu.
Video
Rich Media Playback: https://bustream.binghamton.
Vodcast Playback: https://bustream.binghamton.
Podcast Playback: https://bustream.binghamton.
