University president Samuel L. Stanley Jr. has departed for Africa, where he will see first-hand the work being done, research being conducted, and relationships being built in a handful of University-affiliated institutes, centers and community outreach programs.
Over a ten-day span, Stanley will visit Centre ValBio in Madagascar, where professor Patricia Wright leads efforts to protect Madagascar’s unique and biologically diverse ecosystems through conservation projects and others that directly benefit its residents. His trip includes representing Stony Brook at a celebration of the opening of NamanaBe Hall, a new 15,000-square-foot building designed to enhance the capabilities of the Centre ValBio research campus.
Stanley will also visit professor David Krause in northwestern Madagascar, where Krause conducts research and humanitarian efforts as the founder of the Madagascar Ankizy Fund. He will also travel to northern Kenya to visit the Turkana Basin Institute, where three professors – Richard, Meave and Louise Leakey – also conduct research and humanitarian projects.
Stanley will be providing updates on his trip via Stony Brook's website.
"I am extremely fortunate to be able to visit with our distinguished and renowned faculty in the respective environments in which they have each made unprecedented discoveries, where their research has thrived, and where they are truly part of the fabric in those nations,” Stanley said in a statement. “These partnerships enhance educational and research opportunities for our faculty and students and significantly contribute to the quality of life of those who reside where we conduct our work."
