email : Webview : 🍂 Fall Greetings from the Duke Lemur Center 🍂

In a collage of four photos, a red ruffed lemur leaps through branches covered with reddish-orange fall leaves against a bright blue sky.

Happy Fall from the Duke Lemur Center!

We hope you're enjoying the season as much as the DLC's lemurs are! 🍂 While red ruffed lemur Kitt might look like she's free-falling, this is how ruffed lemurs jump from tree to tree in the canopies of Madagascar's tropical rainforests. With her belly flop leap and rusty red fur, two-year-old Kitt might just pass an an autumn leaf herself!

Charlie Welch, wearing glasses and a green t-shirt,

Charlie Welch to Retire after 35 Years

Conservation Coordinator Charlie Welch will be retiring in the summer of 2025, after more than 35 years at the DLC. Read about Charlie's remarkable career and rich legacy of conservation and biodiversity protection, and learn more about the DLC's newest endowment, the Charles Welch and Andrea Katz Fund, established in honor of Charlie and his wife, conservationist Andrea Katz.

Two ring-tailed lemurs sit in on a tree branch in Duke Forest.

When Lemurs Need Specialists

The DLC is incredibly fortunate to be located in the heart of the "City of Medicine," where so many talented medical specialists are willing to assist us in providing the best possible care for our lemur colony.

This fall, Dr. Matthew Ellison, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at Duke Health, assisted our veterinary team with Griselda, a ring-tailed lemur with persistent fluid and infection in her ears. (Griselda is pictured above, sitting to the left of her sister Gretl.) Read more about Griselda's treatment and how specialists like Dr. Ellison are helping our lemurs live their very best lives.

Melissa Dean Shares Her Story

To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the DLC's business manager Melissa Dean shared her breast cancer journey.

"The more it's talked about, the more this stigma goes away—and the more women who will actually go out and get their mammogram annually," says Melissa.

A ruffed lemur looks at the camera. Text reads

Give the Gift of Lemurs!

Fretting about holiday shopping? Our Adopt a Lemur program has you covered!

For a limited time, receive a stuffed animal with the symbolic adoption of a black and white ruffed lemur! This special holiday package also includes a wooden ornament, a copy of our magazine, free shipping anywhere in the United States, and a customized adoption packet introducing your recipient to Halley, their symbolic adoptee! Updates on Halley's life will be emailed quarterly, so your gift will last all year long.

And, your adoption fee includes a donation to support the lemurs of the DLC and our conservation programs in Madagascar. A win-win! Additional adoption packages are also available, starting at just $50.

A Duke student and one of her collaborators in Madagascar stand shoulder-to-shoulder in front of a banner that says

Collaborating with Duke Students in Madagascar

The DLC-SAVA team regularly collaborates with Duke students through Bass Connections, a program that bridges the classroom and the real world by giving students a chance to tackle complex societal problems alongside Duke faculty and staff.

This year's Bass Connections team worked closely with the DLC and partners in Madagascar to understand the impacts of deforestation on lemurs and to assess the effectiveness of a conservation plan. Read the Bass Connections annual report to learn more—be sure to scroll down to see and read about our Bass SAVA team!

Danielle Lynch kneels on the ground in the forest to give nebulizer treatment to a ring-tailed lemur. The text reads

A Duke Workday: Meet Danielle!

Danielle Lynch comes to the DLC every workday focused on tending to the needs of the animals. Her work ranges from making diets and cleaning enclosures to traveling to Madagascar and tracking the lineage and health of entire species of lemurs. In this edition of "A Duke Workday," learn more about Danielle and the work it takes to care for lemurs in Durham and abroad.

A Coquerel's sifaka wearing a yellow radio collar crouches on a wooden beam against a background of golden autumn light.

Big Investments + Big Impact

Do you own, work for, or know a business that is seeking ways to make an impact in conservation and biodiversity protection, and/or to invest in a truly unique nonprofit that nurtures the next generation of scientists and environmental stewards? Or are you an individual who is motivated in your philanthropic giving by either or both of these goals?

If so, we invite you to explore the DLC's sponsorship program, targeted impact gifts, and exciting transformational opportunities as remarkable ways to make an impact! Please contact Mary Paisley at mary.paisley@duke.edu or (919) 401-7252 to begin the conversation. She'd love to hear from you!

A paleontologist holds the subfossil skull of extinct giant lemur Megaladapis.

Meet your oldest relatives right here in Durham

Whereas most fossil collections focus on particular locations, the DLC Museum of Natural History has a different theme: the entire story of primate evolution.

Learn more about the hidden treasures of the DLC's fossil collection in this article by Duke senior Sophie Cox, and come see your primate cousins in person at the Museum's next open house (free!) on Saturday, November 23 from 1:00 'til 4:00 p.m.

NOTE: The Museum is not on the DLC's main campus. It's located at 1013 Broad Street in Durham, so you can grab lunch or a mid-afternoon snack on Ninth Street or Broad Street before or after you stop by!

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