Lemur Love's Mission: Protect lemurs. Empower women. Further science. 

Lemur Love's 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 Executive Director

Dr. Marni is a scientist and lemur expert. She has been studying wild lemurs in Madagascar for over a decade and her research examines the behavioral ecology of ring-tailed lemurs. Additionally, her research looks at the legal and illegal wild-capture and trade of lemurs within Madagascar. Dr. Marni is a member of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group, and a professor of Anthropology at the University of San Diego. She is committed to training the next generation of lemur scientists and conservationists. ​

Ms. Holly Schneider-Brown​

Chief 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. JONAH RATSIMBAZAFY ​

Dr. Jonah Ratsimbazafy is a native of Madagascar who received his PhD in Physical Anthropology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is currently the Secretary General of a Malagasy Primate Group (GERP), an Adjunct Professor within the Faculty of Sciences and the Department of Medicine veterinary at the University of Antananarivo, and the group leader of CITES for lemurs within the General Direction of Forests in Madagascar.
He has studied lemurs and conducted conservation lemur projects in collaboration with the local communities for over 20 years. His research interests include primate behavior and ecology. He co-authored the 2nd and 3rd edition of the Field Guide Series: Lemurs of Madagascar as well as the French version of the same document. From 2006 to 2008, he was the Vice-President of the International Primatological Society for Conservation. From 2002 to 2013, he was the Training and Conservation Coordinator of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Madagascar Programme. Currently, he is a co-Vice-Chair of the IUCN/SSC Specialist Group-Madagascar.​

Ms. Lauren Petronaci

Director of Arts and Special Projects

Lauren 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 in 2019.

DR. SEHENO CORDAUNT-ANDRIANTSARALAZA

Dr. Seheno is a Lemur Love board member, and our within-Madagascar director. She is biologist by training, and uses her skills to contribute Malagasy biodiversity conservation through awareness, education and conservation initiatives. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Antananarivo in joint collaboration with the French Agricultural Research and International Cooperation Organization. Her doctoral research focused on seed dispersal of Malagasy baobab trees. Previously Seheno’s worked as a scientific coordinator at the NGO Reniala- Lemur Rescue Center.  This work drove Seheno to become an lemur advocate and passionate about conservation. Currently, she works closely with Lemur Love on the illegal pet lemur trade.

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Advisors

Dr. Kim Reuter 

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 currently works as a Principal Consultant for The Biodiversity Consultancy Ltd. She previously worked as the Senior Technical Director of the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa and has served as a consultant on international development and data analysis projects. 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.

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. 

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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 (Networking Coordinator, North America) 

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. Brenda Dunn (Communications consultant)

Brenda Dunn is the editor at Northwest Public Power Association in Vancouver, Wash., and manages the monthly Bulletin magazine, social media channels, annual Excellence in Communication contest, and advertising sales for all publications. She is also NWPPA’s project lead for the More Powerful Together campaign, as well as the resident word nerd who proofs all written and online text that comes from NWPPA. Prior to coming to NWPPA in 2005, she was a communications specialist/technical writer for HSBC. She says that making the move from corporate America to public power proved to be one of her best life decisions.

Brenda has a master’s in writing from Portland State University and a trifecta of bachelor’s degrees (journalism, English, and psychology) from the University of Oregon.

A lifelong Oregonian (with short stints in Iowa and Florida that don’t really count), she lives across the river from Vancouver in Portland, Ore., with Husband (aka Chris) and Bart the Miracle Dog. Brenda loves Oregon Ducks football, the Oxford comma, lemurs, and bacon.​

Ms. Jade Powis (Networking Coordinator, Europe)

Jade Powis is a primate keeper at Combe Martin Wildlife Park in England, UK. Lemurs are by far her favorite species to work with; she even had her honeymoon in Madagascar! Jade is passionate about the protection and conservation of her lemurs' wild counterparts and has been supporting Lemur Love for a number of years. She hopes her role as Networking Coordinator will help to bring further awareness to the vital conservation work that Lemur Love do, and highlight the need to protect one of the planet's most threatened species

Ms. Sibylle Westbrook 

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 physical space for teaching the 300 children who attend. Sibylle will be fundraising for Lemur Love, in order to build common room at La Marmaille, which will be used for (among other things) increasing environmental education within the curriculum. 

​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.