American primatologist

Patricia Chapple Wright (born September 10, 1944) is an American primatologist, anthropologist, and conservationist. Wright is best known for her extensive study of social and family interactions of wild lemurs in Madagascar. She established the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments at Stony Brook University. She worked extensively on conservation and contributed to the establishment of the Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar.

Early life

Patricia Wright was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on 10 September 1944 to Julia Delores, a school librarian and Hugh Edward Chapple, a foundry supervisor.

Education

Wright obtained a bachelor's degree in biology in 1966 from Hood College. She later went on to obtain her Ph.D. in Anthropology from City University of New York in 1985 under the direction of Warren Kinzey.

Madagascar

In 1986 Wright traveled to Madagascar in search of the greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus), a species abundant at the sub-fossil lemur sites of the north but believed to have gone extinct in the recent past. She found that the greater bamboo lemur still exists and discovered a new species that was named Hapalemur aureus, the golden bamboo lemur.

Centre ValBio

Patricia Wright established the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments at Stony Brook University that is dedicated to science-based conservation and research in the tropics, with a special focus on Madagascar. It coordinates the work of many natural and social scientists throughout Madagascar, especially around Ranomafana National Park. It operates a modern research station in Madagascar called Centre ValBio.

Awards and recognition

Awards

Media

TV and films

Print and radio features

Books