Dr. Patricia C. Wright

Dr. Wright is an accomplished scientist, explorer and conservationist whose work is focused in Madagascar. In the late 1980s she spearheaded an integrated conservation and development project that led to the establishment, in 1991, of Ranomafana National Park. In 1989, Dr. Wright became a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and in 1995 she was awarded the "Chevalier d' Ordre National" (National Medal of Honor of Madagascar) and in 2004 the "Officier d' Ordre National" from the President of Madagascar in recognition of her conservation work. She has been a member of the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society since 2000, and the National Geographic Society Conservation Trust since 2002. In 2004 she became an AAAS Fellow (American Association for the Advancement of Science). In 1999 Dr. Wright appeared in Me and Isaac Newton, a feature-length documentary directed by Michael Apted.

Dr. Wright is currently a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Stony Brook University. She supervises students in two doctoral programs at Stony Brook: Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences and Department of Ecology and Evolution. Dr. Wright has served as the Executive Director for the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) since 1992.

Global Climate Change

Madagascar is a unique "living laboratory" for the study of global climate change. Because of its complex and fragile ecosystems, it can serve as a bellwhether to inform future policy.

"What we see in Madagascar is a window into the future of many other tropical ecosystems" - Dr. Patricia C. Wright