August 2026 Stakeholder Update

Read the Duke Lemur Center’s Stakeholder Update, sent to our donors on August 26, 2026. Questions? Contact Mary Paisley, DLC Development Director, at mary.paisley@duke.edu.

August 2026 Stakeholder Update

Sunshine, one of the DLC’s black and white ruffed lemurs, demonstrating “splooting” (stretching out) on the forest floor. The fur around her abdomen is not as fluffy and spreading out allows more contact with a cooler surface.

Dear valued friend and supporter,

We hope you’ve been enjoying these last weeks of summer!

As cooler weather begins to peek around the corner, we’re excited to welcome our new Academic Director, Dr. Elizabeth Lonsdorf, and we’re also enjoying the return of students to the Duke Lemur Center.

Last week, groups of new Duke students rolled up their sleeves, volunteering their help with landscaping projects along our tour path as part of Duke’s orientation program. And yesterday, Dr. Leslie Digby‘s fall Primate Field Biology class was back at the DLC, providing students with valuable experience in research: observing and learning from our extraordinary primates. Many other things are happening here in Durham and in Madagascar, and I hope you enjoy reading our updates below.

Thank you for being part of our community. Your support helps provide exceptional care for our lemurs, advance research and conservation efforts, and inspire the next generation of scientists and animal advocates. We are grateful for all you make possible.

As always, if you have questions or would like to learn more about our work, please feel free to reach out at mary.paisley@duke.edu or 919.401.7252.

Warm regards,

Mary Paisley

Development Director, Duke Lemur Center

Welcome to our new Academic Director

Primatologist and Duke alumna Elizabeth Lonsdorf joined the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and the Duke Lemur Center in this new role on Aug. 1.

Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Ph.D. joined the Duke Lemur Center as Academic Director in a new position supported by a grant from The Duke Endowment. Working with DLC Executive Director Greg Dye, Lonsdorf will be responsible for collaborating with Duke faculty and the world’s lemur specialists to clarify research priorities and galvanize greater campus-wide engagement with the DLC. Learn more about her research and experience with Duke and the DLC through this announcement by Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.

Meet our newest little colony members

Small baby mongoose lemur clutching to the back of her mother.

Mongoose lemur infant Paloma is snuggled-up with her mother, Bonita.

We love celebrating our newest colony members! Learn more about our Class of 2026 Infants and their families.

Pictured above, Paloma’s name was chosen by a generous donor couple who made a $20,000 IRA/QCD gift through our special Ultimate Adoption giving opportunity. We’re so grateful for their significant contribution toward our current fiscal year budget through the Duke Lemur Center’s Animal Care and Wellbeing Fund.

If you have questions about this unique giving opportunity, or other ways you can make a difference to the work of the DLC, contact me at mary.paisley@duke.edu or 919.401.7252.

Inauguration of Protected Area in the SAVA

Two men shaking hands and exchanging papers.

DLC Conservation Director, Dr. James Herrera, observes as the regional director of Madagascar’s Ministry of Environment presents the signed treaty establishing the Ambanitaza Biocultural Landscape to the president of the community forest stewardship organization.

A new community-led protected area in Madagascar was recently inaugurated as the Ambanitaza Biocultural Landscape. This was a milestone years in the making through a partnership between the DLC and local communities. Read more about this achievement and the celebrations at SAVA Region Celebrates New Protected Area.

Catch up on all the news from our DLC-SAVA conservation programs in our August DLC-Conservation Update.

DLC Museum of Natural History news

A woman bent over the dry ground and using a small tool to scrape the earth away from fossils.

Kate Neely, Digital Collections Manager at the DLC Museum, excavating a turtle shell in Wyoming.

The entire museum team returned from field work in Wyoming with 270 field numbers representing at least 300 new specimens, including a partial skeleton (with a great skull) of Smilodectes, a sifaka-like notharctid primate. The team established new sites and tracked down a site worked by the former director of the DLC’s Division of Fossil Primates, Gregg Gunnell, which had not been visited in 30 years. The team reports that one site, called “The Saddle,” was perched between two massive buttes and you could not sit down without finding mammal ankle bones and jaws where you were about to take a rest!

New research using the collection

Duke University scientists used a unique collection of skulls, many from the DLC Museum of Natural History, to create models of the inside of the brain cases to compare the brains of living and extinct primates. It was reported in the journal Science that vision, not the “thinking” frontal lobe, drove varied brain development in primates.

Free tours of our museum on Broad Street

Come to an open house at the DLC Museum of Natural History on September 26, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Admission is FREE! Please note: The museum is NOT at the main DLC location. The address is 1013 Broad St, Durham.

Learn about creatures from the dinosaur era

Dr. Matt Borths, curator of the DLC museum, is teaching an in-person course entitled “Life with Dinosaurs.” Learn about the world of dinosaurs and the other plant and animal life evolving during this same period. This is offered through Duke’s collaboration with OLLI (The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute). Registration is open to all!

Duke Homecoming Welcome Event

We’re hosting a casual welcome event for our alumni supporters on Friday, Sept. 18.

Will you be in town for Duke’s Homecoming events? Alumni who are current Duke Lemur Center donors, were DLC interns, or students who had other meaningful connections to the DLC, are invited to join us at the DLC for a casual welcome event including a greeting by our Director and time with the lemurs on the general tour path. The event will be on Friday, September 18 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration is required. To register, please contact Mary Paisley, Development Director. Thank you!

We’re grateful for special gifts

A Coquerel's sifaka crouched over a water bowl and glancing up at the camera.

Keeping our lemurs hydrated and cool in the heat of summer is a top priority, and a special gift this summer addressed a “keep our lemurs cool” need!

Here at the Duke Lemur Center, the heat and humidity of late July and August are keeping both our staff and lemurs looking for ways to stay cool.

Thanks to a special gift from two longstanding DLC donors, we were able to make several improvements to help keep the lemurs comfortable during the hottest days of the year.

With their support, we added seven new chest storage freezers to locations offering convenient access to our forest habitats, expanded our supply of freezable water bowls, and are acquiring natural stone travertine cooling slabs to see if the lemurs decide they are the perfect place to stretch out and “sploot” on a warm afternoon. If they are a hit, we will consider adding more next spring.

To consider a similar special gift of your own, explore our giving priorities page and let me know if I can answer your questions. Your support makes a real difference!