Challenges and opportunities
for Madagascar’s unique biodiversity
Join us for a round table discussion focused on the environmental challenges and impacts felt in Madagascar.
We will be joined by speakers Andry Ranaivoson, Rebecca Montgomery and Ariadna Mondragon Botero.
Discussion moderated by Jane Howard.
Event in English, in person.
Dr. Andry Ranaivoson is a researcher who studies soil and water management. He holds a Ph.D. in Water Resources Science from the University of Minnesota and a certificate of hydrogeology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is currently working to integrate systems for agricultural production and water quality research that include several stations: bioreactors, ditches, and artificial wetlands. In addition to this, he work as a part-time manager of rural development projects in Madagascar in conjunction with the Fridley-based Global Health Ministries.
Dr. Rebecca Montgomery is a professor in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota who studies forest ecology and restoration. She holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Connecticut. She is currently working on impacts of climate change on boreal, temperate and tropical forests and community engaged research in the Twin Cities. In addition, she serves as the Board Chair and on the science team of GreenAgain Madagascar, a non-profit aimed at implementing forest restoration that supports local Malagasy farmer goals, centers farmer voices and values, builds trust, and integrates local and Western scientific knowledge.
Ariadna Mondragon Botero is a colombian PhD student at the University of Minnesota. She currently works in forest restoration in Berenty Reserve in southeast Madagascar. She holds a Master of Science degree in tropical ecology from the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in France. Before starting her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, she worked in the Colombian páramos and as a consultant in waste management and organic fertilizer production. During the panel Ariadna will talk about her research experience in the dry forest of Berenty Reserve in Madagascar, and about what the reserve has been doing to protect the lemurs and contribute to the wider community in the south of Madagascar.
Moderator: Jane Howard.
Jane Howard received a degree in Environmental Biology from Smith College and a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School. Her career ranged from the Marine Mammal Commission to the last two decades at The Nature Conservancy. Protecting habitat for wildlife is her passion. Now retired, Jane enjoys volunteering for Green Again Madagascar and other nature organizations.