MBC Field Notes
Monthly stories from the Madagascar Biodiversity Center: biodiversity discovery, field research, conservation, mentoring, and community innovation.
MBC Field Notes shares updates from our work in Madagascar, including biodiversity research, field expeditions, conservation partnerships, student training, edible insect innovation, and community-based solutions.
MBC Field Notes shares updates from our work in Madagascar, including biodiversity research, field expeditions, conservation partnerships, student training, edible insect innovation, and community-based solutions.
Latest issue
August 2026 — The next age of exploration in Madagascar
In this issue: LIFEPLAN helps identify 30 priority unprotected forests for future exploration, MBC imagines a new generation of biodiversity surveys using drones and autonomous robots, sakondry farming is tested as a tool for lemur conservation, Mampionona Sombiniaina builds mouse-research capacity at MBC, a black soldier fly farmer turns larvae into livelihoods, and we revisit the science behind an internet-famous Makira snail.
Previous issues
July 2026 — From invasive cactus to Madagascar’s genomic future
In this issue: MBC and its partners test whether invasive Opuntia can support black soldier fly farming in Itampolo, help farmers establish new BSF micro-farms in Ambilobe, and share lessons from ant taxonomy, cricket research, and field visits. We also revisit an expedition that helped shape MBC and introduce a vision for Malagasy-led capacity in biodiversity genomics.
June 2026 — Hidden biodiversity, honeypot ants, and insect farming in Madagascar
In this first issue: African ant taxonomy training at MBC, Madagascar’s newly confirmed honeypot ant, black soldier fly farming at FIAM and Ambilobe, MBC’s small-farm insect model on the global stage, and a new BioSounds grant for real-time biodiversity monitoring.
