The Alpkit Foundation funds individuals heading into the field — from lemur research in Madagascar to glacier science in the Austrian Alps.

Most Foundation grants go to community organisations and outdoor projects. But some go to individuals doing something harder to categorise: going into the field to study, to research, to understand a species or an ecosystem before it changes beyond recognition.

The four people here went to very different places for very different reasons. What they shared was a willingness to go further than the familiar, and a specific, argued case for why it mattered.

A critically endangered primate in northwest Madagascar

Caitlin spent five months studying the critically endangered blue-eyed black lemur in Madagascar's Manongarivo Special Reserve. With fewer than 2,300 individuals estimated to remain in the wild, the species faces an acute threat: as deforestation reduces their range, blue-eyed black lemurs are coming into increasing contact with the more abundant black lemur. Interbreeding is believed to be occurring, and it poses the risk of permanent loss of species-specific behaviours, or local extinction of both species.

"Determining whether or not interbreeding is occurring will be the first step towards modifying current management policies for these two species. To do this, I will be investigating the behaviours, vocalisations, and genomics of lemurs living in the Manongarivo Special Reserve."

The Foundation grant funded equipment for two Malagasy Masters students hired to assist with data collection — equipment that stayed with them for their own future research. Caitlin later returned to Madagascar for a follow-up study; that story is told in Conserving Lemurs.

Into the canopy and onto the moraine

Alexander was working towards a PhD in mine restoration ecology when he applied for support to attend a tree climbing course at the CREES biodiversity research station in the Peruvian Amazon. The course was designed to give researchers safe access to the forest canopy, an area where stress in trees shows in the leaves long before it shows anywhere else. The canopy had been effectively out of reach for independent researchers until a specialist access course made it viable.

Alexander's motivation reached beyond his own project. He hoped the training would allow him to mentor the students coming after him: "I want to be able to train others to become fully-fledged forest ecologists, and the climbing course will be the first step into becoming a properly trained mentor, opening doors for myself, and even more so, for others."

Joshua's project was further north and considerably colder. For his masters in Environmental Science, he travelled to the Zillertal Alps in Austria to study lichen communities on glacial moraines. Lichenometry uses the growth patterns of lichen to date the formation of moraines, which makes it possible to reconstruct a detailed picture of glacier retreat. Joshua's fieldwork contributed to understanding of glacier change over the past 160 years. "Once we better understand a natural system," he wrote, "we will be better prepared to protect and preserve it."

Learning to live wild

Chloe's project was different in kind. She enrolled in a wilderness immersion programme in Sweden, focused on practical skills rooted in ancient knowledge: how to find and prepare shelter, fire, and food sustainably, how to live in nature rather than simply survive it.

Her aim was to develop these skills in herself so she could pass them on. "I'm really passionate about nature reconnection, sustainable, simple living and relationship with the Earth," she wrote. "It feels important to me to learn these skills myself and experience living truly in nature to develop this connection and knowledge further, in order to share it."

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The Foundation supports individuals and community groups working to open up the outdoors and deepen people's connection to the natural world. If you have a project that fits, find out how to apply.