This milestone event, the first IMLD celebration at this scale on campus, was led by and and brought together more than a dozen units across campus and beyond, reflecting an extraordinary level of collaboration and shared commitment to multilingualism.

Participating departments, centers, and offices included: CLaSE (Center for Latino Heritage and Spanish Language Excellence), Anthropology, Linguistics, Spanish & Latino Studies, World Languages & Cultures, NJCIJ (New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice), Writing Studies, the Office of Global Engagement, the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the Office for Hispanic Initiatives, and Sprague Library.

The event also featured strong participation from international students and student organizations, including MASA, PASO, LASO, ESA, and NAIS, whose engagement contributed to the dynamic and inclusive atmosphere of the day.

With over 300 attendees, including students, staff, faculty, and members of Indigenous groups from Latin America and Native American communities, this event became a vibrant testament to the linguistic and cultural richness that defines our campus and surrounding areas.

The First Floor Reading Room of Sprague Library was transformed into an immersive, global experience where participants “traveled” across languages. Each attendee received a “language passport”, guiding them through a journey across more than twenty interactive tables, each representing a different language and cultural context or perspective. As they moved from table to table, they collected stamps or stickers while engaging in activities that celebrated language as a living, dynamic force.

Students explored language through creativity, play, and reflection. They became “Vocabulary Detectives,” shared regional expressions at the “Teach Us Your Dialect” table, and connected through challenges like “Language Mapping” and “Translation Challenges”. At other tables, they mapped their linguistic identities, contributed to a “Word Wall”, and responded to prompts such as “Tell Us in Your Language” and “Where in the World Is Your Language?”

Hands-on cultural experiences added depth and beauty to the event. Participants practiced Chinese calligraphy, learned to write their names in Korean, and explored basic expressions in French and Mazahua. They also engaged with global Indigenous cultures through interactive Kichwa language guessing activities and the Navajo String Game.

Other stations invited deeper reflection on language as identity and future. Through activities including “Language Futures Survey”, “Words of Wisdom”, and the “Latin American Slang Wall -¿Cómo se dice?”,  we celebrated the emotional and cultural connections embedded in language.

A highlight of the event was the series of four lightning panels, which brought powerful voices and perspectives into the room. These included presentations by Dr. Jesse Ha (Teaching & Learning), Librarian Catherine Oliver, Verónica Muenala, Próspero Martinez and Elías Hilario Guzmán (members of the Concejo de Pueblos Originarios), Precious Benally (Director of NJCIJ), and three outstanding students, Alondra Molina, Sofia Andersen Garreffa and Kaung Hla Zan. Presenters provided deeply moving personal reflections and scholarly insights, reminding us of the individual, cultural, and political significance of language in people’s lives.

The event also created meaningful bridges across time and tradition. Participants read graffiti from the ancient world and engaged with Indigenous languages and knowledge systems, reminding us that language is not only communication, but memory, resistance, and continuity.

Throughout the room, there was laughter, curiosity, and a powerful sense of belonging. Languages were spoken and celebrated, not as barriers, but as bridges. The presence of President Koppell, who joined the celebration and expressed appreciation for the energy and vibrant participation of attendees further underscored the importance of this collective moment.

This celebration was more than an event. It was a living expression of what it means to be part of a multilingual, multicultural campus space where every language is recognized as a source of strength.

See you next year!

Dr. Maisa Taha and Dr. Antonella Calarota-Ninman

When Khara Lillian Brown walks across the stage at ����vlog’s Spring Commencement, she’ll be celebrating more than earning her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology – she’ll be celebrating a victory against extraordinary odds.

While in college, Brown was given just a 3% chance to live. Defying that prognosis with courage and determination, she not only survived but thrived, finding her purpose and passion through research, community and storytelling.

Her resilience carried her through multiple surgeries and intensive rehabilitation. Today, she is presenting original research, receiving prestigious scholarships, and exploring the complex history of free and formerly enslaved African American communities.

Maybe I didn’t do as well as I wanted – I’m a perfectionist and hard on myself – but I’ve met people, changed lives, touched people with my story. And that’s all a person can ask for – to be a catalyst for change.” — Khara Brown

A Newark native, Brown majored in Anthropology with minors in Archaeology and Native American and Indigenous Studies. Throughout her time at Montclair, she combined scholarship with activism, volunteering in the campus Archaeology Lab, co-founding the club LadiesFIRST, and participating in organizations such as the Native American and Indigenous Studies Club and the Coalition for Collective Liberation.

She also helped launch the Women’s Leadership Conference, organized by the University’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Program. At this year’s conference, she was honored with a Triumph Over Trauma Award, recognized before more than 350 high school students, educators, community leaders and artists.

Balancing academics with health challenges wasn’t simple.

In 2015, Khara Brown faced a devastating diagnosis after being hospitalized with catastrophic intestinal failure, leaving her paralyzed and barely able to speak. Doctors told her mother there was a 97% chance of fatality. Brown, determined to survive, whispered: “If God created the world from nothing, imagine what He could do with 3%.”

Reflecting on her journey, she says, “To be able to say that I’m in three honor societies, doing my best, graduating – He obviously did some magic with that 3%.”

But overcoming the odds wasn’t easy.

“Maintaining a steady momentum that allowed for proper mental and physical care was the hardest part,” Brown shares. “Finding that balance between what I want to do and what my body can allow me to do was hard as well. You want to be at the same pace as everyone else, but it’s okay if your path is different.”

Achievements and Future Plans

Brown’s academic work focused on free and formerly enslaved African American communities of the 18th and 19th centuries, research she presented at the Archaeological Society of New Jersey Conference.

With the help of her advisor, Christopher Matthews, Anthropology chairperson, Brown researched and compared three archaeological sites in Northern New Jersey and New York. She also participated in the prestigious working alongside descendants of enslaved people to map the Burial Ground for the Enslaved. This summer, she will continue that work through an internship with Montpelier’s Archaeology Department.

In addition to her archaeological work, Brown deepened her commitment to Indigenous studies through hands-on experiences at the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm, which provides traditional foods for the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape (Lenape) Nation. The tribe can no longer safely farm its ancestral land in Upper Ringwood, New Jersey, due to industrial contamination.

Brown credits her success to a wide network of supporters.

“Big shout out to my EOF family, Dr. Danny Jean and the whole gang, my professors Chris Matthews and Mark Clatterbuck, and the whole Anthropology Department,” she says.

She also expresses deep gratitude to Chief Mann of the Turtle Clan and the Munsee Three Sisters Farm, her co-workers who kept her nourished during long study sessions, and her family and prayer communities.

“Khara is such an amazing person who has not only overcome so much to complete her college degree, but continues to see serving the greater good and, especially, underserved and marginalized communities as her purpose. Her impact as a student, archaeologist, educator and person will be profound,” Matthews says.

Words of Reflection

After graduation, Brown plans to move to Virginia for the summer and celebrate her 30th birthday – grateful for all she has overcome and excited for what lies ahead.

“Now that I’m at the finish line, I can sit back and say it was worth it. In some moments, it didn’t feel possible. But perseverance – that tenacity – is what keeps me going.”

The University will celebrate its graduates at Commencement exercises on Wednesday, May 7 and Thursday, May 8, 2025, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Story by Marilyn Joyce Lehren, University Communications and Marketing

Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?

Prospective Students and Parents: Learn more about Montclair admissions, our Anthropology major and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Journalists: Contact our Media Relations team to request assets or schedule an interview with a member of the Class of 2025.

Memory across Time and Disciplines is an interdisciplinary conference that brings together researchers from the sciences, humanities, and technology to explore the diverse ways memory is formed, stored, forgotten, and recovered. By bringing together scientists, historians, archivists, geologists, linguists, technologists, and artists, the conference aims to uncover the deep connections between how we remember—whether through neurons, fossils, books, or bytes. This conference will not only highlight cutting-edge research but also inspire new ways of thinking about memory in a rapidly changing world.

Organizing Committee, ����vlog
Deborah Chatr Aryamontri (Dept. of Classics & General Humanities)
Dawn Hayes (Dept. of History)
Sophia Hudzik (Dept. of Classics & General Humanities)
Joanna Madloch (Dept. of Classics & General Humanities)
Greg Pope (Dept. of Earth & Environmental Studies)
Timothy Renner (Dept. of Classics & General Humanities)
Peter Siegel (Dept. of Anthropology)

Sponsored by the Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies and the Department of Classics and General Humanities, ����vlog and with a contribution of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States

The conference will be held in-person and virtually. Join the conference on campus in Schmitt Hall, Room 327, or via (passcode: 521293).

View the program schedule below.

This extraordinary experience deepened the group’s understanding of the profound connections between Bolivia’s indigenous communities, their traditions, and the natural world. The participation in this trip underscores the importance of cultural exchange and interdisciplinary learning in understanding the vibrant heritage of the Andes and the communities of the Pueblos Originarios.

With its commitment to Indigenous rights, racial justice, decolonization and eco-justice, the NAIS program emphasizes the priorities of New Jersey’s state-recognized Native American tribes – the Ramapough Lunaape, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape and Powhatan Renape nations – which include environmental justice, political recognition, cultural heritage and language revitalization.

The NJCIJ will be a center for communication, fundraising, events and gatherings that highlight the unique questions facing Montclair’s Indigenous students and New Jersey’s tribal communities. It will coordinate the University’s work to change public narratives, increase Indigenous student enrollment and pursue justice-oriented action on issues affecting Native people in the state.

“The NJCIJ will give focus to the varied work Montclair faculty and students are doing in partnership with New Jersey’s tribal communities,” says Anthropology Department Chair Chris Matthews, a co-director of NAIS and co-Principal Investigator of the grant. “[It] will be the first and only university-based project in New Jersey that aims to transform public understanding of Native people and to do so in partnership with Indigenous communities across the state.”

About the New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice and NAIS Program Grant

In addition to Matthews, the co-Principal Investigators of the grant include Religion Professor Mark Clatterbuck, Anthropology Professor Maisa Taha and Educational Foundations Professor Lisa Lynn Brooks, all fellow co-directors of the Native American and Indigenous Studies program.

The grant funds will be used to establish the New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice and achieve the following goals:

• Deepen the impact of the NAIS program by providing additional resources and support for interdisciplinary collaboration and research.
• Establish a digital repository of tribal knowledge and resources to ensure their preservation and availability to tribal members, and to Montclair faculty and students.
• Hire a NJCIJ director who will promote increased engagement with the New Jersey tribes and with Indigenous issues, while also helping to recruit and mentor a growing number of New Jersey tribal members at the University.

Native American and Indigenous Initiatives at ����vlog

����vlog is committed to increasing the awareness and knowledge of New Jersey’s Native American tribes and the issues they face.

As demonstrated by the adoption of a Land Acknowledgement Statement in 2022 that recognizes that the University occupies territory historically known as Lenapehoking, the homeland of all Lenape people, the University is committed to social justice and to offering learning opportunities and promoting Native American culture and history.

In addition to the Native American and Indigenous Studies minor, some of these initiatives include:

• Celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day
• Annual NAIS Summer Field School
• Lectures and Panels

“The Mellon Foundation grant will significantly increase Montclair’s ability to fulfill our commitment to addressing the historical legacies of Indigenous dispossession and dismantling practices of erasure that persist today, as stated in our University Land Acknowledgement,” says Clatterbuck. “The new center, in tandem with our Native American and Indigenous Studies program, is focused on Indigenizing New Jersey while decolonizing educational, social and political legacies that continue to overlook Native people and exploit Native lands.”

About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at .

The Montclair History Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which protects the property’s above- and below-ground cultural resources by requiring field surveys of the land any time a project is organized.

Thus, when plans to expand their parking lot and increase accessibility to the property were introduced, the Montclair History Center reached out to ����vlog for a team to conduct the required archaeological survey prior to any construction or demolition.

2022 Excavation Project

The current excavation builds on work Matthews and Williams conducted in 2022 when they explored areas of the Orange Road campus to uncover more local history.

The exploration resulted in the discovery of the foundations of the greenhouse and floral business that once existed on the same grounds the Crane House and the Historic YWCA are now built upon. But what was possibly even more significant was the discovery of the business owner’s identity.

“Dr. Matthews and Williams have uncovered that the florist shop and greenhouse was a woman-owned business run by Alice G. Rose in 1915 at just twenty-eight years old,” says Angela Diggs, executive director of the Montclair History Center.

This was a critical addition to the long history of the property. While the physical findings reveal the stages in between the Township of Montclair’s development from a rural environment to being increasingly suburbanized, the discoveries surrounding Alice G. Rose spoke to a more rapidly changing society on the brink of the 19th amendment.

“Having a historical figure who reflects the critical social changes and the material evidence to narrate their life contributes to our understanding of who we are as a society,” says Williams.

This is a major contribution to the museum’s historical timeline as the history of the Rose family had been “unexplored prior to the work with Dr. Matthews and Williams,” says Diggs. It has since called for a reassessment of the way the Montclair History Center’s timeline is analyzed and discussed. “As historians, we must always revisit our research and narratives that we are sharing with the public.”

The specific angle to that narrative that most fascinated Allison Chacon-Perez, an Anthropology student at Montclair, was the respect finally granted to a daughter who “is often overshadowed in the historical accounts by her father.”

(l-r) Jessie Hassan, Allison Chacon-Perez, and Michael Pan excavating in the driveway at the Montclair History Center site.

Summer 2024 Excavation Project

Whilst building upon those discoveries, there were layers and layers of history for the 2024 excavation team to dig through, and the process was both engaging and challenging at the Montclair History Center.

“It is a bustling environment that requires being conscious of those also moving through the space,” Williams says. “It is difficult to leave work-in-progress excavation units open for safety reasons.”

Additional work to the property over the years complicated the team’s ability to analyze the soil and what was discovered within it, but working through these challenges is instrumental in the training for aspiring archaeologists. Excavation projects as a whole are no easy task, but perhaps experiencing what archaeological work actually entails was one of the greatest takeaways.

“Copious notes, drawings, and photographs are taken along the way to ensure that the excavation process is fully documented. This is vital because archaeology is destructive,” says Matthews. “Archaeology is found more in the notes and other records than in the actual digging.”

A Rare Opportunity for Students

These experiences can be hard to come by. For Montclair students, the close vicinity of the site to ����vlog allows for a rare opportunity to engage in field work without excessive travel.

“It’s the perfect historical archaeological training site,” says Williams. “Being able to drop into the site, leave, and return to the lab at ����vlog allows students to try out what it means to be a historical archaeologist and opens up paths to careers in cultural resource management or academia.”

(l-r) Michael Pan, Francisco Maury, Jessie Hassan, Asli Erem, Allison Chacon-Perez, and Trey Rodriguez working in the lab processing artifacts from the Montclair History Center project.

This is not lost on Chacon-Perez who understands that the ability to work in a real excavation is not something many students are afforded or can afford.

“Field schools often double as expensive study abroad programs, making them unaffordable for some students,” Chacon-Perez explains. “Despite these challenges, gaining hands-on experience is crucial as it opens up opportunities to assist on future digs and to build connections with peers in the field.”

Matthews speaks to the benefits of participating in an excavation even beyond the training itself: “Students often enjoy working with their hands and the experiential process of learning while doing the work. Sometimes the work is hard, but it is always rewarding.”

One of the most rewarding moments for Chacon-Perez was being among “the first to lay eyes on these long-buried objects.” She continues, “It is a thrilling reminder that, no matter how much the present changes, we can always learn valuable lessons from the past.”

Archaeology in Local Communities

But the students weren’t the only ones excited to see the discoveries being made. The accessibility of the Montclair History Center allowed for onlookers to watch the excavation in real time, and Williams wasn’t surprised by their curiosity.

“The discipline actively brings the past into the contemporary by making the unfamiliar relatable through tangible objects: the excavated artifacts. When this process happens within spaces where people live, work, and recreate, I believe a sense of community is strengthened by the knowledge of how these spaces came to be,” Williams explains.

For Asli Erem, an Anthropology student at Hunter College taking part in the excavation, happiness is always rooted in the “impact on the local community.” She is fascinated by the work but also feels the digging itself is a small piece of the discovery process: “There is a significant contribution in adding to a very distant part of history. I think discovering artifacts of the past is just a tiny fraction in doing what we do. Rather, we want the story of ‘what once was’ to reveal itself. Finding objects at the Montclair History Center…it is helping us understand the past.”

Even seemingly mundane objects can tell us so much about life before ours, but seeing that value in what might appear unimportant is at the core of archaeology. Discoveries such as a cobblestone walkway found buried beneath the ground, a marmalade jar, and ceramic sherds of household items speaks to how people “cognitively constructed their domestic and working spaces,” according to Williams.

“These objects may seem like innocuous material discarded once used, but they actually offer a genuine glimpse into how people understood themselves as members of society,” he says.

An Enriching Excavation

Amongst the many advances made during the 2024 excavation project, much of what remains appreciated most is the experience itself. The team of students from various schools allowed for relationships to be created and developed based on a shared passion for history, archaeology, and anthropology alongside an unmatched work ethic.

Williams appreciates having the opportunity to work with “a committed and hard-working crew” that pushed through having a difficult digging location and extreme heat and humidity while still “carrying the project to success.”

“Being back in the field with this team reinforced my respect for Montclair students,” he says. “Their work ethic was what I’d grown accustomed to from my time at the University. I felt privileged to work and learn alongside such an awesome group of people!”

Enriched from working with fellow anthropology students she wouldn’t have otherwise met, Chacon-Perez cherishes the experience surveying the property of the Montclair History Center and getting to see just how much archaeology adds to our world.

“The excavation demonstrated that there is as much, if not more, history beneath the surface as there is above it. These findings underscore the importance of preserving historical sites and highlight the crucial role of archaeology in uncovering hidden aspects of our historical narratives,” she says.

More than anything, there is truth in the work of archaeologists best summarized by Will Williams: “Unlike the written record, things don’t lie!”

Written by Sarah Ramirez

Read More

The four week program had a full roster of thirteen students along with one postdoctoral fellow and three TAs who were returning past participants, now helping run the trip.

According to Dr. Clatterbuck, professor and co-director of the program, students have a lot of unlearning to do before they can learn Indigenous history. Students discussed the failures of the school systems in not teaching them about Native history or the fact that tribes still exist and live all over New Jersey. In order to begin deconstructing these misconceptions, The Native American and Indigenous Studies program prioritizes getting students in direct contact with Indigenous elders and tribes.

The best way for Native history to be taught is “on their land, in their voices,” says Dr. Clatterbuck.

Week one was spent with the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape Tribe in Ringwood. Under the guidance of Ramapough elder Wayne Mann, students learned about Ford Motor Company’s dumping of toxic waste onto the land in the 1960s and 1970s. Having never been given a proper clean up, the land has since been declared a federal superfund site.

The Turtle Clan taught students about their efforts to demand resources and support for a clean up project and students were able to help them create a digital repository documenting Ford’s contamination of Ringwood.

Week two was spent in Bridgeton with the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribe on the Nanticoke tribal lands and camping out at Cohanzick Sanctuary. Students were able to see how the Cohanzick Sanctuary spreads Indigenous wisdom on how people can reconnect with nature.

Member of the Stockbridge Band of Mohegans from Wisconsin, Wanonah Spencer, and Ramapough youth organization, The Tomorrow People, led talking circles and provided guidance on insightful discussions on how to quiet one’s “human.” The Tomorrow People, formed by Wayne Mann, focuses on developing solutions for problems and trauma derived from the contamination of Ringwood.

The tribe emphasized that environmental justice is necessary now more than ever as we face a new peak in the climate crisis. They reminded students that their ancestors handled the planet with great care and if they want to pass along a healthy world to the next generation, land must be restored and taken care of.

As students were shown how to develop their personal relationships with the environment, the tribe encouraged them to do the same with one another, showing how both relationships go hand-in-hand.

For senior Nawal Rai, a Geography, Environmental, and Urban Studies major, camping at Cohanzick Sanctuary was unpredictably illuminating.

“It was honestly very healing for me,” he says. “We went on a walk at midnight through the woods and stargazed…The elders helped us connect with the site and showed us how to open up with one another, and it brought me closer to so many people.”

This level of engagement is exactly how Rai prefers to learn: “We’re not just learning about the history of Indigenous people from an instructor in a classroom. It’s beyond that. Everything we learned came from people who have experienced the violence of our state, and the stories about their own bloodline finally came from them instead of a textbook.”

The third week was spent with Chief Dwaine Perry, Principal Chief of the Ramapough Mountain Indians, Vincent Morgan, Executive Director of Ramapough Mountain Indians, and Owl, attorney for the Ramapough, bringing the students to a historic Ramapough burial ground. What was once a place built to honor their deceased loved ones has since become another dumping ground for the public.

Students learned about the tribe’s preservation efforts whilst working with Ramapough elders and caretakers of the grounds to clean up the property and study county and state maps. They used the information they gathered and GIS mapping to mark graves and outline the borders of the area to more thoroughly document its existence.

Students utilizing GIS mapping

The fourth and final week of the program brought students to work at Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm in Newton. The 14-acre organic farm is run by Turtle Clan Chief Vincent Mann, Michaeline Picaro Mann, and the farm’s manager, Lenny Welch (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians), as a direct response to the contamination of the Ringwood Community.

The farm uses traditional Indigenous practices while harvesting crops and students were shown these customs while weeding, mulching, harvesting, and learning about Indigenous cultivation and the importance of food sovereignty.

Students washing fresh picked strawberries at Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm.

Beyond providing safe food for tribes that cannot harvest on their own lands, the Munsee Three Sisters Medicinal Farm has also been a home for the revitalization of the Munsee language. Students learned about how language can be recovered and also decorated signs to be placed all over the property with crops labeled in Munsee with their English translations.

“I think one of the biggest parts of the unlearning process for me was that there still are communities around working to revitalize their language and culture, and I needed to understand that movement, why it is important to them, and why it is important for the world to preserve language and culture,” Nawal Rai says.

Students painting signage in Munsee

The Field School’s program ended with a heart-warming celebration when the students were invited to participate in the annual Nanticoke Powwow at the Salem County Fairgrounds. Each year, the Nanticoke Powwow hosts two days of cultural celebration filled with traditional music, dance, food, and craftsmanship, and students had the unique opportunity to help those running the festivities.

While the history of New Jersey’s treatment of Indigenous tribes tells a painful story of the intended erasure of Native people, the Field School’s summer program highlights their resilience and survival.

Many of us often succumb to the fallacy that Indigenous tribes live far away, either in distance or in time, but the Native American and Indigenous Studies program dismantles the mentality that refers to Native people in the past tense, and the interpersonal relationships and experiences that students gained during the 2024 summer season is only one way they do it.

You may also be interested in:

Community-based Learning Makes an Impact

Students Plant Seeds to Revive a Native American Language

Written by Sarah Ramirez

About 30 percent of people globally eat insects in some way. Despite that this dietary practice traces back a thousand years and has an abundance of nutritional benefits, it is considered a foreign and even “uncivilized” concept.

Dr. Borgerson’s research explores the relationship between humans and unsustainable hunting, human health, and food security. With Grist, she destigmatizes the idea of eating insects, even comparing the taste of cicadas to a delightful blend between chicken nuggets and sunflower seeds.

According to Dr. Borgerson, “Some insects have an incredible opportunity, and a potential, to reduce our carbon footprint in a delicious, but sustainable, way.”

Written by Sarah Ramirez

“I grew up with shelves of National Geographic magazines in my home and would read them endlessly, dreaming of one day exploring the incredible places and meeting the amazing people featured within its pages,” says Borgerson. “It’s incredibly humbling to think that there could be a kid out there in the world, sitting on their bedroom floor, opening this month’s issue to see me. I want to let them know that they’re next. There is so much in this world to do and discover.”

Bogerson, an anthropologist, primatologist, conservation biologist, and , wants to help save lemurs from hunting without leaving Masoala communities hungry. She has been working with villagers to develop sustainable ways to farm sakondry, or “bacon bugs,” as a staple food source which can fill many of the nutritional gaps left by the famine while reducing the pressure on the shrinking forests.

The sakondry are native to Madagascar and thrive in the current climate, creating a great opportunity to farm the insects and save the endangered lemur population. Borgerson’s early studies in Madagascar showed that in some villages, 75% of animal-source foods come from forest animals, including lemurs. The research also found that there are higher rates of malnutrition in households that hunt lemurs, indicating that the hunting is driven, at least partially, by food insecurity.

Borgerson plans to return to Masoala later this year with her family to continue her research and work with Masoala communities. “It’s truly a place unlike any other left on earth- where critically endangered lemurs live within biodiverse tropical rainforests that reach sandy ocean shores. I’m so incredibly excited for readers around the world to learn about a place that is so very dear to my heart.”

Borgerson’s work was also recently featured in the, which spotlights people and communities dedicating their lives to building a more sustainable world.

Learn more:

BBC’s People Fixing the World podcast
Bugs! They’re What’s For Dinner
Eating Insects to Fight the Climate Crisis
Faculty Spotlight: Cortni Borgerson