PhD Student Florence Aghomo Honored by the Explorers Club as a Top 50 Star

Stony Brook University PhD student and primatologist Florence Aghomo has been named a 2026 Explorers Club 50 star for her work as the coordinator of the Red Colobus Conservation Network project under the Primates Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Re:wild and the African Primatological Society (APS).

Aghomo is also a doctoral student in the Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences (IDPAS) and a member of the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) under the supervision of renowned SUNY and Stony Brook University Distinguished Service Professor Patricia C. Wright, founder and director of Centre ValBio Research Station in Madagascar.

As a student at Stony Brook, Aghomo uses landscape genetics to study how landscape features affect lemur movement and gene flow. She has conducted field-based wildlife assessments. Driven by her passion for wildlife conservation, she founded an Environmental and Language Center in Ranomafana, Madagascar, through the Flor Foundation to promote education. She also organizes Youth Wildlife Workshops in Cameroon to spark curiosity and inspire young people to explore and learn about nature.

"Florence is a science scholar and a real world conservation hero. It is a privilege to be her mentor," said Professor Wright.

"Through my work, I search for, document and study primate diversity, behavior, and threats and I assess their vulnerability and contribute to the development of conservation strategies," said Aghomo.

The Explorers Club is a multidisciplinary society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation. Each year the Explorers Club recognizes 50 extraordinary individuals looking to do remarkable work to promote science and exploration.

Each year the Explorers Club recognizes 50 extraordinary people who they determine are doing remarkable work to promote science and exploration. These 50 individuals are exploring, inspiring and creating the future: the future of the planet, life upon it and the boundless possibilities exist.