Three WashU researchers studying human-wildlife interaction in the forests of Madagascar have approached their research in a unique way – one that recognizes that protecting wildlife requires protecting people.
Assistant Professors of Biological Anthropology Krista Milich and Emily Wroblewski share a common interest in non-human primates. Both started at WashU at the same time and their path to Madagascar followed former Professor of Anthropology Robert Sussman, who was a prominent primatologist who studied Madagascar’s lemurs.
As a way to honor and continue that legacy, Milich and Wroblewski began collaborating with the St. Louis Zoo, the Missouri Botanical Garden and partner organization the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group. The goal was to develop a project that studied threatened lemur species at two sites along Madagascar’s eastern coast.