CICASP | Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology

The PrimateCast has rolled out its mobile podcasting unit once again, this time to cover the joint meetings of the International Primatological Society and American Society for Primatologists held between August 21-27, 2016. This year's congress was hosted by the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes of Lincoln Park Zoo, and the conference was held at Navy Pier in Chicago, USA.

The PrimateCast On Location at IPS 2016 with Dr. Laura Marsh

Just as we were about to close up shop, take down our Kyoto University booth and pack away our mobile podcasting unit, we were approached by Laura Marsh wondering what we were doing. After she explained to us what she was doing, we had to immediately scrap our plans for a quick and dirty exit and sit down one last time for a fascinating chat with another personality in the primatology world. What comes out is a tale of mystery and intrigue of epic proportions - uncharted Amazonian rainforest, a missing monkey, and ... a houseboat!? 

Dr. Laura Marsh is Director and co-founder of the Global Conservation Institute, and she has dedicated herself to the field of tropical ecology and conservation. In the podcast, she describes her upcoming project, Houseboat Amazon. Years and years ago, a saki monkey (Pithecia vanzolinii) was lost to science, with no individuals, dead or alive, being spotted since 1932! After discovering the animal in museum collections while revising the taxonomy of saki monkeys, Dr. Marsh decided that what was needed was an expedition of epic proportions, fueled by the desire to discover and preserve some of nature's remotest lifeforms.

Rather than using a more traditional approach, Dr. Marsh decided to bring all of us along for the ride, in a social media extravaganza that puts each of us on the boat in search of the long lost platyrrhine. So follow along with Houseboat Amazon, and be sure to check out their crowdfunder, powered by Indiegogo, at Generosity.com to find out how you can help with the mission. 

We'd like to sincerely thank Dr. Laura Marsh for joining us on this episode, as well as all of our guests on this series of podcasts from our coverage of the 26th Congress of the International Primatological Society and 39th Congress of the American Society of Primatologists. We look forward to Nairobi 2018. Be sure to check out our other podcasts featuring interviews with leading scientists in primatology and beyond.

Join us and all our friends at IPS/ASP on The PrimateCast, and visit our official webpage @ theprimatecast.com to find loads of content from primatologists and conservationists around the world. You can also visit (and Like/Follow) us on Facebook and Twitter and leave comments and feedback on this or any other podcast in the series. You can also follow our RSS feed, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes to keep up with the latest content.

Photo Credit: Cecile Sarabian / Andrew MacIntosh