Video Release: Relationships Between People, Plants, and Lemurs in Northeast Madagascar

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A behind-the-scenes look into our new video!

Research in the rainforests of Madagascar is about more than data. Nevertheless, I do have to condense the work my colleagues and I do into numbers that I then use for statistical analysis. This task is important for testing hypotheses and determining patterns that help explain ecological processes. But, given the limitations of data and statistics for telling a story, how can we convey nuances of nature and ecological relationships too complex to distill into numbers fit for an analysis? 

I am grateful to have teamed up with Malagasy videographer Riccardo Morrelas to produce a video on our ecological research in COMATSA-Sud, a community-managed protected area in northeast Madagascar. Riccardo, founder and director of Zahava Productions, and his colleague Falo Beriziky journeyed to our field site in COMATSA to capture footage of our research process and help us tell the story of why relationships between people, plants, and lemurs in this forest are so critical for both ecosystem functioning and human well-being. 
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Working with Riccardo and Falo was a great adventure and provided an opportunity to reflect on the "bigger picture" of our research. The video team braved hungry leeches, torrential rains, and rugged trails all in the effort to capture footage of rare and endangered lemurs. Luckily, the lemurs cooperated and gifted us with plenty of material.

Instead of resting back at camp, Riccardo and Falo conducted interviews with me and my colleagues. All research team members were involved in the video production and worked together to share the questions and challenges driving our multi-disciplinary project. Honoring the highly-collaborative nature of our research, the video features voices of all team members who consented to filming. This project was also bi-lingual, ensuring that both local and international audiences can learn about our project. 

Some team members with Riccardo during filming.

Searching for lemurs with Riccardo and Falo during filming.

Check out the Duke Research blog of our work here!