Brian L Fisher is a scientist, speaker and teacher with a passion for adventurous expeditions and conservation fieldwork. The Fisher lab research focuses on leveraging new technologies and tools to discover, document, and understand the diversity on earth and ensure these results are available and used immediately for conservation action.
In 2016, Fisher launched IPSIO (Insects and People of the Southwest Indian Ocean): A Network of Interdisciplinary Researchers Committed to Training, Sharing Tools, and Advocating for an Insect-Focused Approach in Conservation
In 2016, Fisher launched IPSIO (Insects and People of the Southwest Indian Ocean): A Network of Interdisciplinary Researchers Committed to Training, Sharing Tools, and Advocating for an Insect-Focused Approach in Conservation
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Current research:
Biogeography and Macroecology in Madagascar
- Where are the most threatened and important ant areas in Madagascar. What are the top 5 important areas we should preserve in Madagascar?
- Does a phylogenetic analysis of ant diversity patterns in Madagascar identify the same conservation priority areas as an analysis based on taxonomic (species) diversity?
- What role has isolation, geographic placement, geological history, and environmental heterogeneity played in structuring patterns of endemic radiations and microendemism in the southwest Indian Ocean?
Documenting Diversity
- How many lineages (genera) and species of ants exist in the Malagasy region and which ones are introduced or endemic?
- Can we accelerate species delimitation and documentation using collaborative and integrative teams of morphologists and molecular biologist?
Evolution of ants
- What are the early branching lineages of ants?
- What are the major lineages of Dracula ants (Amblyoponinae) and how are they related?
Biogeography and Macroecology in Madagascar
- Where are the most threatened and important ant areas in Madagascar. What are the top 5 important areas we should preserve in Madagascar?
- Does a phylogenetic analysis of ant diversity patterns in Madagascar identify the same conservation priority areas as an analysis based on taxonomic (species) diversity?
- What role has isolation, geographic placement, geological history, and environmental heterogeneity played in structuring patterns of endemic radiations and microendemism in the southwest Indian Ocean?
Documenting Diversity
- How many lineages (genera) and species of ants exist in the Malagasy region and which ones are introduced or endemic?
- Can we accelerate species delimitation and documentation using collaborative and integrative teams of morphologists and molecular biologist?
Evolution of ants
- What are the early branching lineages of ants?
- What are the major lineages of Dracula ants (Amblyoponinae) and how are they related?
What would it be like to live in a world where you could know the name of any ant? And could learn not just its name, but what it looks like, its habits, its distribution, whether it is endangered, whether it is invasive? What if you could do this without visiting a museum or library? And what if this knowledge could also help protect habitats, monitor ecosystems, and link the health and well-being of humans to that of the natural world?
In other words, our goal is to put ants on equal footing with birds in terms of understanding their biology and role in conservation. To achieve this, Brian is helping create a new generation of globally-connected ant researchers.
IPSIO was launched to develop a team approach to solving current conservation issues. Entomologists have largely failed to have an impact on contemporary conservation issues because: a) their efforts are focused on individually chosen insect groups with little concern for applied outcomes; b) the rate we are understanding/documenting insects is so slow that it will take another 200 years before we make considerable progress with insects as a whole; and c) entomologists (compared to botanist) have not traditionally worked together on focused problems nor on a set of insects groups that can best address an issue. What if our efforts were not distributed thinly across the region on individually chosen insects but were instead focused on a strategic set to address problems with direct conservation outcomes.
In other words, our goal is to put ants on equal footing with birds in terms of understanding their biology and role in conservation. To achieve this, Brian is helping create a new generation of globally-connected ant researchers.
IPSIO was launched to develop a team approach to solving current conservation issues. Entomologists have largely failed to have an impact on contemporary conservation issues because: a) their efforts are focused on individually chosen insect groups with little concern for applied outcomes; b) the rate we are understanding/documenting insects is so slow that it will take another 200 years before we make considerable progress with insects as a whole; and c) entomologists (compared to botanist) have not traditionally worked together on focused problems nor on a set of insects groups that can best address an issue. What if our efforts were not distributed thinly across the region on individually chosen insects but were instead focused on a strategic set to address problems with direct conservation outcomes.
Explorer Scientist Teacher
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