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South Korean behavioral ecologist, science educator, biodiversity conservationist and best-selling author Dr. Jae Chun Choe joins us on The PrimateCast to talk about his role in the development of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology in Korea.

Cecile Sarabian of Conservation Voices and Kyoto University Primate Research Institute graduate student Heungjin Ryu, also from South Korea, help introduce the interview

"So I finally had to give up my own life ... to become a so-called 'servant' to all of my students"

Professor Choe, as he is respectfully and yet affectionately known to his numerous students that have passed through Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute, is Founding President of Korea's National Institute of Ecology and Professor and Chair in Behavioral Ecology at Ewha Women's University.

After doing his graduate studies at Harvard with evolutionary biology giant E. O. Wilson, Professor Choe eventually returned to Seoul National University where he began to build this field from the ground up in his native Korea.

"[in South Korea] literally nobody was doing anything related to the study of behavior, evolutionary biology or anything like that"

In the interview, which was conducted in early March 2015 at a Kyoto University Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science annual symposium, Professor Choe briefly runs through his prestigious background before discussing evolutionary biology in South Korea.

Throughout, the sincerity with which he approaches science, his students and the public is abundantly clear, as is the reason behind his portrayal by the Korean media as "the scientist with the mind of a poet"!

He ends the interview discussing his role with the Conference of the Parties Convention on Biological Diversity, the establishment of the National Institute of Ecology (a must see!), and the impact that work done by him and his colleagues to enlighten the public about animal-related issues has had in 21st century Korea, a relatively new arrival to the scene of animal behavior, welfare and conservation.

Photo credit: Jae Chun Choe / Joong Ang Ilbo

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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by Cecile Sarabian

March 2016 – Inuyama, Japan.

Raymond Lumbuenamo gave a talk at the 5th International Symposium on Primatology and Wildlife Science on habitat fragmentation and effective community involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Conservation without livelihoods is conversation"

Raymond Lumbuenamo is a conservationist, an economist and an expert in remote sensing, and until recently (2005-2015) he was Director of the World Wildlife Fund DRC. He is currently Professor at the University of Kinshasa's UNESCO School of Integrated Management of Forests and Land, and remains a consultant for WWF DRC.

He was in Japan in early 2016 setting up a joint project with Kyoto University focusing on developing eco-tourism based on observing bonobos in Malebo, which will be run largely by local communities.

With a frank way of speaking and an authoritative perspective, Raymond Lumbuenamo reflects on the issue of conservation in DRC, and on some of the ‘fights’ he has been involved in, for example with the British oil company SOCO digging for oil in the Virungas.

Photo credit: Raymond Lumbuenamo / WWF

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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Canada Research Chair in Primate Ecology and Conservation, Dr. Colin Chapman, joins us in the studio to talk about 26 years of work in and around Kibale National Park, Uganda.

"People always expect me to have a nice kind of plan ... like I had it all lined up, but the reality is ..."

26 years of directing primate research and conservation activities confers a lot of perspective, to which this interview with Dr. Colin Chapman will attest in spades!

In the interview, we talk about how he got started at Kibale, which has become an iconic field site for primate ecology and conservation, and how he manages to maintain a high scientific output while at the same time pushing forward on numerous conservation and public health fronts.

While discussing the nature of long term field work at Kibale, Dr. Chapman imparts numerous nuggets of wisdom with respect to interfacing research, conservation and wildlife and public health.

Toward the end of the interview, Dr. Chapman reflects on the forest, its restoration, and the expected impact of an increasing elephant population in the area, before getting into his involvement with National Geographic and the opportunities that are available to young researchers through its various programs.

Colin Chapman is Canada Research Chair of Primate Ecology and Conservation, and Professor in McGill University's Department of Anthropology and School of the Environment. He's also currently a Killam Research Fellow, Associate Scientist with WCS and honorary lecturer at Makere University in Uganda.

For more on his scientific and outreach programs, visit Dr. Chapman's website here, and find out how you can contribute to the ongoing efforts of the Kibale Mobile Clinic and Kibale Health and Conservation Project.

Photo credit: Colin Chapman

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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by Cecile Sarabian

In January 2016, Luc Mathot, wildlife law enforcement activist and director and founder of Conservation Justice, received me at his apartment in Libreville, Gabon for an interview.

Luc’s work on wildlife management started in the Central African rainforests of Gabon, Cameroon and Congo. Then, Luc became the manager of the Lesio-Louna project (“Projet Protection des Gorilles”) and the representative of the Aspinall Foundation in the Congo for 4 years.

Later on, this experience led him to create PALF (Project for the Application of Law for Fauna) in Congo-Brazzaville in 2008, which was the first replication of the wildlife law enforcement NGO: LAGA – The Last Great Ape Organization.

Since 2010, Luc has been leading Conservation Justice, an NGO aiming to protect threatened species in Gabon from illegal hunting, logging and wildlife trade by increasing the level of wildlife law enforcement in the country.

This podcast was produced by Cecile Sarabian and Andrew MacIntosh

Photo credit: Luc Mathot

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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Hello everyone and welcome back to The PrimateCast! Really excited to welcome back to the podcast our very own Dr. Chris Martin.

Chris is currently Research Scientist at Indianapolis Zoo where he runs cognitive tasks on touch panels with orangutans to advance both science and public understanding of animal behavior, cognition and conservation, but he's back in Inuyama temporarily and was ready to get back to the studio.

For anyone who may not know or remember, Chris is one of the founders of The PrimateCast but left the Primate Research Institute in 2014 after 5 years of graduate study and 2 years of postdoctoral work on the Ai Project under the supervision of Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa, and of course 2 years well spent right here with the podcast.

In the interview, we talk about why he's back in Japan, and what he's been up to since leaving PRI to take a research position at Indianapolis Zoo's International Orangutan Center.

For a fun way to spend a few minutes and learn more about the work Chris is getting up to at Indy Zoo, check out this YouTube video.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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by Cecile Sarabian

After a 2-hour boat trip on Lake Victoria, across the Equator, I arrived at Ngamba Island, a chimpanzee haven in Uganda. Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary currently hosts 48 chimpanzees, all rescued from illegal ownership and/or orphaned by hunting activities in Uganda or neighboring countries.

Lilly Ajarova is the executive director of The Chimpanzee Trust, an NGO working on all aspects of the sanctuary. The first time we met, it was March 2015 for the annual Primatology and Wildlife Science symposium at Kyoto University, where she was one of the invited speakers. The second time was only a few months later in August, just before I embarked for Ngamba. T

he emotion and passion that Ms. Ajarova puts into her work tells it all: conservation runs through her veins! Along with Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (The PrimateCast #30), Lilly Ajarova was nominated by the Uganda Wildlife Authority as one of the leading female conservationists of Uganda.

Titus Mukungu is the sanctuary manager and veterinarian at Ngamba. He was my host for the 3 days I spent there, showing me the wonderful job every person working on Ngamba was doing. I got to see behind the scenes at a chimpanzee sanctuary. 

From early morning chimpanzee pant-hoots through late evening meetings, I could feel the true devotion of the staff to chimpanzee welfare, conservation and education. Besides this, Ngamba Island is also a paradise for bird-, monitor lizard-, and otter-watchers. 

So, if you pass by Uganda, don’t miss the chance to visit!

We'd like to sincerely thank Lilly Ajarova for joining us on the podcast and sharing her insight into conservation in Uganda, and Titus Mukungu for hosting us and sharing his experience at Ngamba. 

This podcast was produced by Cecile Sarabian and Andrew MacIntosh.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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An Earth Day special with a visiting high school intern

The PrimateCast had a rare opportunity this week to enlist a 16 year old high school student intern to produce a podcast of her very own. We are now proud to present to you Nina's Passion, a rough guide to finding your passion.

Nina Negi on finding her passion

Nina writes, "I couldn’t believe it when Andrew MacIntosh, Associate Professor of the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute, answered my email. He told me that even though the PRI had never [mm, maybe] taken any high school interns before, he’d be happy to organize an internship for me."

We were more than happy to have Nina with us at PRI, and it seems she made the most of her time there, engaging in all kinds of primate-related activities and producing her very own podcast for The PrimateCast! To read a full summary written by Nina about her experiences at PRI, check out our news story news story. And to see Nina's story written up in the newsletter of her former school, Greenschool Bali, click here.

We'd like to sincerely thank all of our guests on this episode. 

This podcast was produced by Andrew MacIntosh with help from Sofi Bernstein and Nina Negi.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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The third edition of our SCCS coverage from around the world

From March 24-26, 2015, the 16th edition of the Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) Cambridge, was hosted by the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge.

Since the very first conference held in 2000, this student-based conference has become a model to be replicated in other parts of the world (see The PrimateCast's coverage of SCCS Bangalore and SCCS Brisbane o the podcast website).

If you are a student and you are interested in conservation, this conference is made for you! The first project that got me involved in Conservation is our environmental education project in Iran: Kavikonj Nature School, for which I went to present a poster at SCCS Cambridge.

A trio of crazy conference days

Intense… was the word! Four Plenary talks, 32 student talks, multiple workshops, and posters hung during lunch and dinners! Although a different style and environment than either Brisbane or Bangalore, SCCS Cambridge definitely lived up to the hype. The conference had a wide range of countries represented; I met 3 students from Iran, which was completely unexpected, and a lot of students from Africa, much less represented in other SCCS conferences due to geography.

What can you get by going to such conferences? SCCS Cambridge strongly encourages students to present their work either through a poster or a talk. However, I met students who were just attending, probably to get an overall idea of what others are doing and to get inspired. SCCS is a great place for networking, learning and recharging your batteries. You come out of such a conference and you want to get right to changing the world! For me personally, it was a useful experience toward raising awareness about our alternative school in Iran, meet other Iranian students and exchange ideas about the project. Additionally, I attended two workshops on raising funds for conservation projects and planning a conservation research programme, and discussed with other students about the role of education in conservation. Now I just have to apply all that I learned…

List of Interviews

• Dr. Rosie Trevelyan [Director], Tropical Biodiversity Association, UK/Kenya, University of Cambridge, UK
• Dr. Tom McCarthy [Executive director], Panthera Snow Leopard Program, USA
• Ms. Allison Stocks [MSc student], UBC Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Canada
• Ms. Elham Nourani [PhD Student], Nagasaki University, Japan (Researchgate Profile)
• Mr. Jeremy Cusack [PhD Student], Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK, Zoological Society of London, UK
• Ms. Rhoda Kachali [PhD student], University of Zambia, Zambia Wildlife Authority, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Germany
• Ms. Carmen Julia Quiroga [MSc student], Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, UK
• Ms. Justine Alexander [PhD student], Wildlife Institute, Beijing Forestry University, China

We'd like to sincerely thank all of our guests on this episode as well as the SCCS Cambridge team for their help to get this podcast out!

This podcast was produced by Cecile Sarabian and Andrew MacIntosh.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

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By Cecile Sarabian

Conkouati-douli National Park, Republic of the Congo – Summer 2010.

I was volunteering with HELP Congo, a program rescuing and reintroducing chimpanzees into the wild - “The only sanctuary in Africa that has no fences”. 

Repeatedly during my stay, I heard the name of“Naf”(for Naftali). He was apparently a previous camp manager who had contributed a lot to the work of the NGO. 

When we wanted to release chimpanzees, go to Naf, when we wanted to monitor wild chimpanzees near the Sanctuary, go to Naf, etc. I asked after him and learned that he left HELP Congo to join a wildlife law enforcement group in the capital, Brazzaville.

Since then, I started to follow updates from the group – PALF (Project for the Application of Law for Fauna).

And finally, no later than few days ago, I had the opportunity via The PrimateCast to talk to Naftali Honig (see an interview with Naftali in National Geographic) and his experience as an activist fighting wildlife trafficking and corruption in the Congo.

We'd like to sincerely thank Naftali Honig for joining us on the podcast and sharing his experiences and insight into conservation enforcement on the ground!

This podcast was was produced by Cecile Sarabian and Andrew MacIntosh.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

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If you value the show, leave ratings and reviews wherever it is that you listen, and consider donating by clicking the "Support the Show" link above. 

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In the cold Winter, The PrimateCast journeyed to warm up in Australia and to cover the second Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) Australia. 

SCCS Australia was hosted by the University of Queensland in Brisbane between January 19 and 29, 2015. If you've ever wondered what Conservation Science looks like in Papua New Guinea, Australia, China, or Columbia, read on.

The PrimateCast was at SCCS Australia 2015

These conferences are designed for young conservation scientists to help them gain experience, learn new ideas and make contacts that will be valuable for their future careers.

List of Interviews

• Dr. Hugh Possingham [Professor of Mathematics and Ecology], University of Queensland, ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED), National Environmental Research program hub for Environmental Decisions
• Ms. Grace Nugi [Research Intern with the Wildlife Conservation Society Papua New Guinea, Miss Papua New Guinea], University of Papua New Guinea
• Dr. Erik Meijaard [Conservation Scientist and Consultant], People and Nature Consulting International
• Ms. Angela Recalde-Salas [PhD Student], Centre for Marine Science and Technology (CMST), Curtin University
• Ms. Kay Critchell [PhD Student], School of Earth and Environmental Science, James Cook University
• Mr. Trishant Simlai [Technical project consultant], Foundation for ecological Security (FES)
• Mr. Yufang Gao [PhD student], Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University
• Mr. Sean Maxwell [PhD student], ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED), University of Queensland
• Ms. Natasha Peters [Research Intern], Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB)

We'd like to sincerely thank all of our guests on this episode as well as the SCCS Australia team for their help to get this podcast out! 

This podcast series was produced by Cecile Sarabian and Andrew MacIntosh.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!

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If you value the show, leave ratings and reviews wherever it is that you listen, and consider donating by clicking the "Support the Show" link above. 

Thanks for being part of The PrimateCast Community!