Luke Dollar

Hi! I'm Luke Dollar, a PhD student in Ecology. I'm a member of the Pimm Lab and will be finishing my graduate work soon.

I've been working in Madagascar since 1994, when I came as a Duke Undergraduate assisting on a Duke Primate Center lemur research project in Ranomafana National Park. Although my field season the following year was in Sumatra working on Orangutans, I returned to Madagascar in 1996 and have spent 3-6 months here almost every year since.

My work here falls into three categories:
1) Study of the Ecology and Conservation of Cryptoprocta ferox and other predators in Madagascar. The fossa is Madagascar's largest carnivore. You'd think that the species sitting atop the food chain in one of the world's most famously biodiverse ecosystems would be well studied. Not so. My team, colleagues, and I are working to learn as much as we can about predators (like the Fossa) playing keystone roles in maintaining the balance of nature. We particularly focus on studies and results that have significant conservation and management implications.

2) Analysis of deforestation in Madagascar using satellite images and remote sensing techniques. Madagascar is famous not only for its amazing biodiversity, but also for the rate at which habitat has been lost in the recent past. We know that Madagascar has less than 10 percent of its original forest cover remaining, but we are still addressing where those threats are the greatest and where we should best dedicate our resources. My first project, entitled "Integrated Conservation and Development Projects in Madagascar: What Succeeded, What Failed, and Who Did It?" put an objective, quantified set of facts forth to be used in gauging past and planning future conservation initiatives. We have almost completed our next project, examining the absolute rates and amount of deforestation in every protected area in the entire country. With these results, we can go even further in examining what works for conservation in Madagascar and how we can best optimize our conservation resources (and dollars) in the immediate future.

3) Running conservation, education, and development projects in Ankarafantsika National Park. Ankarafantsika is also where most of our field research takes place, and it is the largest tract of dry, deciduous forest remaining in Madagascar. We work closely with the national park service (ANGAP) and local villages to address problems of conservation and seek alternatives to ecologically deleterious activities. In recent years, we've helped the local villages found campsites to support researchers and ecotourists, conducted extensive conservation education initiatives, and funded continued education of village children unable to afford it but capable of going further than there current situations could support. In the immediate future, we'll be helping organize and build the first ecotourist lodge and bungalows in and around Ankarafantsika.