Northern Illinois University
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

NIU Study Abroad in Madagascar

Madagascar Past and Present: Biodiversity, Extinction and Conservation

Next offering will be June 7 - July 7, 2019

The primary purpose of this program is to provide participants with the opportunity to learn first-hand about primate biodiversity, extinction, forest fragmentation and conservation in Madagascar, one of the world’s foremost biodiversity hotspots. The program will focus on building an experiential knowledge of: 

1. Madagascar’s existing biodiversity, especially its >100 primate species.
2. The 16 primate species that have been lost to extinction in the past few thousand years.
3. The complexities and challenges of conservation in this third-world nation.

Students and instructors will begin the field school in Antananarivo, where we will have an opportunity to hear guest lecturers and observe fossils of the giant extinct lemurs. From there, we will go on to briefly visit Parc Zoologique d’Ivoloina where students will observe captive and free-ranging lemurs (and practice data collection methodologies) as well as learning about local conservation initiatives. Third, we will travel to Tsinjoarivo where we will spend the majority of our trip.Tsinjoarivo is a unique, high-altitude rainforest found at the escarpment dividing Madagascar’s central high plateau from its eastern lowlands.Tsinjoarivo is ideal for studies of forest fragmentation and disturbance because of the existence of an east-west fragmentation gradient over a distance of less than 15 kilometres. Here students will see the lemurs that have been studied for 12 years, and apply ecological and behavioral sampling techniques as they work on targeted brief research projects in the surrounding forests.

Tsinjoarivo 

See the 2015 Flier - "Explore Madagascar"

For More Information contact:
Short-term Study Abroad

International Programs

(815) 753-0700

Email: niuabroad@niuedu

Also check the NIU Study Abroad Website

and Sadabe Madagascar