When it comes to the diversity of life on Earth, studying small things is essential to understanding the big picture. In Madagascar, one of the world’s most unique and threatened ecosystems, Brian Fisher is studying some of the island’s smallest life forms—ants—to create a more accurate picture of biodiversity on which to base future conservation decisions.
Over the past 15 years, Academy entomologists, botanists, herpetologists, and invertebrate zoologists have identified more than a thousand new species from the island and its surrounding waters. Fisher’s prolific exploration of Madagascan species of ants spans more than two decades, but his work extends beyond describing the often-overlooked creatures he calls “the glue that holds ecosystems together.”