Summer in Madagascar

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Madagascar for research! I conducted labwork at a collaborator’s lab in the sprawling, active capital city of Antananarivo.

I initially planned to work weekends, but circumstances changed, allowing me to take the weekends off to just be a tourist. Looking back, I’m grateful I was able to explore with this free time. I got to see some of Madagascar’s beautiful nature and unique species with my own eyes. I also got to meet more Malagasy people outside the lab, and even with the language barrier (I don’t speak French or Malagasy!) I felt very welcomed. Not to mention the food! I’ll be trying to make mofo gasy and menakely at home.

I also took a day to lead a workshop on coding in R for local graduate students studying biology, zoology, and conservation at the University of Antananarivo! One of our collaborators is Association Vahatra, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting graduate students in the natural sciences in Madagascar. A key benefit of the relationship between Vahatra and Duke is the mutual exchange of knowledge and skills – Vahatra students have taught us a lot about small mammal ecology and botany, and in return, we train them in technical skills and communication in English. This was my first time leading any trainings on R, and I’m happy to report that it went well for both myself and the Vahatra students!

Check out some of my pictures below! Over the course of my trip, I was able to visit Andasibe National Park, Vakona Forest Lodge’s Lemur Island, and Lemurs Park to see lemurs, crocs, chameleons, and gorgeous landscapes.