On Saturday, May 17, 2025, the DLC celebrated the nearly 40-year career and upcoming retirement of our Conservation Coordinator and planter of seeds, Charlie Welch! We’re proud to share this video of the presentations of the evening as well as a full transcript of the speakers’ remarks. What a lovely evening it was, and thanks to our sponsors and individual donors whose special gifts significantly offset the costs for the event.
At the event, DLC Executive Director Greg Dye announced that Dr. James Herrera, currently serving as DLC-SAVA Conservation Project Coordinator, will lead the Duke Lemur Center’s efforts as Conservation Coordinator following Charlie’s retirement. James was in Durham for the event and is already back in Madagascar to ensure that our momentum and impact continue their strong trajectory.
Also at the event, Greg announced that the Duke Lemur Center’s newest endowment to honor the careers of both Charlie and his wife, retired DLC Colony Curator Andrea Welch, the Charles Welch and Andrea Katz Fund, had just surpassed an important milestone by raising just over $100,000 in gifts. This means the fund is now formally activated to begin generating revenues to support our work in perpetuity. We know this fund will continue to grow, and we are well on our way toward another goal of exceeding $300,000 in the coming few years to formally restrict the fund to conservation programs in Madagascar!
Additional “special gifts” to this new endowment fund, as well as annual gifts to our very important Madagascar Programs Fund that fuels our annual operations and impact in Madagascar, are very much appreciated!
