Madagascar's Lemurs

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DAILY LIFE IN THE FIELD 4. VOLUNTEER TRAINING AND ASSIGNMENTS Training “The guides were fantastic and friendly. They worked so hard and were very patient with us. “ Volunteers will receive introductory lectures on: • History of RNP and the region • Conservation biology • Primate behavior and ecology • Field methods specific to this research 6 ~ Katie Lueders, 2005 Earthwatch Volunteer These discussions and lectures will be held at the Centre ValBio in the evenings after the day’s field observations and over meals. Briefings will be provided each morning or the prior evening before heading into the forest. Field methods will be explained during the first day at the research site. A tour of the trail system will end with an afternoon visit with sifaka Group I, when you will have your first opportunity to practice taking behavioral data. Field notebooks will be reviewed by project staff regularly and corrections and/or improvements discussed with the volunteers. Additionally, each team will be given a more detailed onsite project briefing upon arrival at the station, including specific details on what types of research are currently underway. Assignments Earthwatch volunteers will work closely with Drs. Wright and Arrigo-Nelson, Dr. Feistner, graduate students, ValBio researchers, and experienced Malagasy research technicians. Volunteers will participate fully in all field observations of lemurs, conduct botanical inventories and phenological monitoring, and prepare the fruit and fecal samples needed for analysis. You will begin your visit by learning the methodologies employed in each area of research. Then project staff will try to place volunteers within the work schedule according to research interests, although all volunteers will spend some portion of the day conducting behavioral observations. Assignments will vary depending on the specific research questions being addressed during your expedition. These may include the collection of data on sifaka behavior and feeding rate, recording the ranging patterns of the nocturnal mouse lemur, observing raptor nests to determine lemur predation rates, or collecting and processing plant samples for future analyses. Field methods to be employed include: • Habitat descriptions • Locating positions using GPS technology • Timed behavioral observations • Marking food trees and processing fruits for chemical analyses • Collecting and preparing fecal samples for hormonal analysis Veterinary, botanical, natural history, and observation skills/experience are helpful but not necessary for participation in this project. Please alert Dr. Wright or Dr. Feistner if you think you can contribute in a specific way.
5. TEAM ITINERARY Generally data collection takes place Monday through Friday, and the weekend is the time to explore the town of Ranomafana and/or the forest in more detail. Volunteers can visit the local natural history museum and natural hot springs pool (each has a small entry fee, which is the responsibility of the volunteer), watch or play basketball and/or soccer, hang out at the local watering holes, or attend church services. The expedition will also include a visit to the reforestation project in town and ANGAP’s conservation education center. Consult a travel guidebook for information on local attractions. See Section 15 ‘Helpful Resources’ for suggested guidebook websites. Below is a tentative team itinerary. Be aware that specific research tasks will vary based on project needs. With multiple studies being carried out on a variety of species, the team will be split up into smaller groups to conduct different tasks. Volunteers will normally have the opportunity to participate in more than one study during the expedition. Day 1: Days 2-13: Day 14: The team will meet in Antananarivo (volunteers must arrive in Antananarivo the day before Day 1 in order to be ready to leave for Ranomafana first thing in the morning) and drive to RNP. After arriving in the late afternoon, volunteers will sign into the National Park at the park entrance and set up tents. The rest of the evening will be spent settling in and getting oriented. The team will take a walk through the forest and discuss the history of the park and the Ranomafana region. Dinner will be served at the station followed by an evening welcome, introduction to field staff, and orientation lecture on the research ahead. After a few training sessions, the team will begin data collection. Although the exact research protocol will be set by the needs of the project at the time of the expedition, a typical expedition might involve pairs of volunteers being assigned an individual sifaka to follow from dawn to dusk for five consecutive days, to collect data on the animal’s feeding and social interactions. Volunteers might also have the opportunity to collect fruit under the trees where the sifaka have eaten, mark food trees and record their position using GPS technology, help conduct botanical inventories, and use GPS to map the daily ranges of the animals. The team will depart for Antananarivo by car. You may choose to continue your exploration of Madagascar from Ranomafana or return to Antananarivo for your flight home from here. The team will arrive quite late and you should plan to spend the night in Antananarivo and continue your travel the next day. 7
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Page 3 and 4: Welcome to Earthwatch Institute! Yo
Page 5 and 6: Institute for the Conservation of T
Page 7 and 8: GENERAL INFORMATION PRINCIPAL INVES
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Page 11: Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Summe
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Page 25 and 26: 13. RECOMMENDED READING Please read
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Page 35 and 36: EXPEDITION PACKING CHECKLIST This E
Page 37 and 38: Personal Supplies Kleenex Lip balm

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