Our mission: Protect lemurs. Empower women. Further science. 

Our vision: Ensuring lemurs thrive in their forest homes through the power of women,
​science, and our extended global ‘troop’.

Board Members

Dr. Marni LaFleur (Founder and Director) 

Dr. Marni LaFleur is the founder and director of Lemur Love. She started Lemur Love as a mechanism to protect lemurs in southwestern Madagascar, after witnessing deforestation and poaching of wild ring-tailed lemurs. Marni now recognizes that conservation is much more about humans than animals, and that the historical, political, and social influences within Madagascar are important considerations to conservation agendas. Through Lemur Love and with Malagasy partners, Marni aims to implement a better and more sustainable future for biodiversity and humans, as outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
 
Dr. Marni is also an Assistant Professor at the University of San Diego, in San Diego California, where she teaches Biological Anthropology. She is also a member of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group and the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group Section for Human-Primate Interactions. She is passionate about rights of both animals and humans, fairness, and equity, and aims to instill these values in her students.​

Ms. Holly Schneider-Brown​ (Cheif Operating Officer)

Holly Schneider Brown is a lemur lover and passionate about turning ideas into action. She has over 15 years of program development and project management experience, both in the nonprofit and industry sectors. Holly holds a B.A. from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA and an M.A. from the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. She is a director at IEEE, the world's largest professional association dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. A large focus of her work at IEEE is on sustainable development and humanitarian technology applications around the world.​

DR. HOBY ​AMBININTSOA RASOANAIVO (RESEARCH COORDINATOR: STAFF)

Dr. Hoby is a Malagasy veterinarian with an interest in wildlife medicine. She obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Department of Science and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Antananarivo in 2019. 

Dr. Hoby is fascinated by lemurs and particularly enjoys studying them in their natural habitats. She is also interested in Madagascar's medicinal plants, and how lemurs may use plants to self-medicate. Additionally, Dr. Hoby enjoys travel and wildlife photography. 

​Dr. Hoby shares Lemur Love's vision of conserving Madagascar's biodiversity through scientific inquiry, the amplification of women, and address the humanitarian needs of rural Malagasy living in proximity to wildlife. 

DR. SEHENO CORDAUNT-ANDRIANTSARALAZA (Within-Madagascar Director: Staff)

Dr. Seheno is the In-Country Director of Lemur Love. She oversees all Lemur Love staff and programs within Madagascar. Seheno earned her Ph.D. at the University of Antananarivo where she focused on the seed dispersal of Malagasy baobab trees. She had a life-changing experience when she worked at the NGO Reniala Lemur Rescue Center, in that she fell in love with lemurs and became an advocate for their conservation. 

In addition to her role at Lemur Love, Dr. Seheno is the manager of the Lemur Conservation Network, and a member of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group’s Section for Human-Primate Interactions. Seheno’s collaborative research on baobabs is currently funded by the Explorers Club Discovery Expedition Grant and PEER-USAID. 

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Advisors

Mdm, Angellia Razanadrainy​

Mdm, Angellia is our Community Advisor to the village of Mangily. She is the founder and director of La Marmaille primary school, which has approximately 400 students. This school incorporates environmental awareness into its curriculum, including content about Madagascar's biodiversity and lemurs. Food insecurity and ability to pay small tuition fees pose problems for many of the children attending La Marmaille. Mdm. Angellia helps us understand how to best support her students and their families, so that they can stay in school and become next generation of environmentalists! ​

Ms. Lynne Venart

Ms. Lynne is Senior User Experience Designer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and has provided design and communications consulting for non-profits, publishers, and small businesses in the D.C. area for over 15 years. Lynne is the co-founder of the Lemur Conservation Network and is passionate about lemur conservation. She helped the Eden Conservation Foundation plant 10000 trees in Madagascar in one year alone. 

MS. LAUREN PETRONACI

auren Petronaci’s unique skill set enables her to help Lemur Love save lemurs. Lauren's interpretive and project management experience enabled her to organize several successful online and in-person events. Lauren also used her artistic abilities to inspire love for lemurs and raise funds to support in situ conservation. Lauren traveled to Madagascar with Lemur Love in 2017 and looks forward to her next visit. 

Mdm. Lanto ​VONIMALALA

Lanto is is our Community Advisor for the village of Efoetse. She has been part of the Lemur Love Tsimanampesotse field team since 2010 and helps us understand the needs and desires of local people. Food insecurity is a major issue in Efoeste and the main reason why people exploit forest resources. 

DR. KIM REUTER ​(DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR)

Dr. Kim is a hybrid biologist and international development professional, who has used her skills to make a measurable impact on communities through healthcare, education, and conservation initiatives. She earned her PhD from Temple University, where she focused on conservation in Madagascar and how biodiversity issues intersect with food security and socioeconomic drivers of natural resource use. She also studies the in-country ownership of pet lemurs via the Pet Lemur Survey Project (funded by National Geographic) as well as aspects of the mammalian bushmeat trade. 
Dr. Kim works for the UK government in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Kim volunteers for the Lemur Conservation Network and the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group. In the past, Dr. Kim's work as Executive Director of The Ladybug Project (2010 - 2013) impacted communities in two African countries.

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Talent Troop 

MS. ​​Liz Bonsey (Graphic Designer)

Liz is a senior graphic designer based in Basingstoke, UK. She produces ad hoc marketing material for Lemur Love in her spare time, and is a determined, creative individual with a keen eye for detail. Liz first heard about the organization whilst volunteering at a turtle conservation project in Costa Rica. Outside of work, Liz keeps 5 pet tortoises, plays netball and badminton, and enjoys exploring the British countryside in an old Land Rover. 

Ms. Andrea Haverland (Conservation Partnerships Coordinator) 

Andrea is a primary keeper at the Sacramento Zoo. She cares for apes, monkeys and lemurs including mongoose lemurs, coquerel’s sifaka, and black and white ruffed lemurs. Andrea said, "I am so thrilled to be able to help Lemur Love as a volunteer! Primates are my passion, and I love telling people all about them! I’m especially looking forward to helping with fundraisers and getting more AAZK chapters involved in the Lemur Love mission." 
​Thank you, Andrea and welcome to the troop!

MS. SIBYLLE WESTBROOK (SPECIAL PROJECTS)

Sibylle (a native German now living in Los Angeles) is passionate about conservation. In 2019, she fulfilled her life-long dream of traveling to Madagascar and seeing lemurs in the wild. This trip, which was facilitated by Monkeys and Mountains Travel (and followed ALL of Lemur Love's recommendations for ethical interactions with only wild lemurs), visited a remote small private primary school, called La Marmaille. This school was built by and is run by a local woman who was dismayed by how few rural Malagasy children could read. Environmentalism is integral to this school's curriculum, but they are limited by a lack of resources, including sufficient food for students. Together with Lemur Love, Sibylle's initiatives have resulted in a new school building, over 20000 lunches served to undernourished students, and aid to vulnerable families of school children during COVID. Sybille is also a 2022 Lemur Love Conservation Partner. 

Coral Chell (Grant Wrining Intern: Volunteer)​

Coral is currently studying for her Ph.D. in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Toronto, Canada, focusing on lemur behavioral ecology and conservation. Despite currently living in Canada Coral is originally from the UK, which is where she did both her B.Sc. and M.Sc. studies at the Nottingham Trent University. During the summer of 2018 Coral travelled to Madagascar as part of her M.Sc. and fell in love with the country, it's people and wildlife, but most importantly she fell in love with it's lemurs, specifically the Coquerel's sifaka! Since then Coral has travelled to Madagascar once more and is very much looking forward to traveling again for her PhD and seeing more of what the country has to offer!

​Lemur Love is a small US-based non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that conducts scientific research and 
​partners with Malagasy women to build capacity and promote conservation. ​

Header photo credit Thorston Milse.