Education
2024, Stony Brook University, PhD
Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences (IDPAS)
Dissertation: "Natural resource use by forest-adjacent communities in northeastern Madagascar: its drivers and implications"
Advisors: Dr. Patricia C. Wright and Dr. A. Catherine Markham
Committee Members: Dr. Cortni Borgerson and Dr. Liliana M. Dávalos

2022, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, Stony Brook University
Advanced Graduate Certificate in Communicating Science

2013, The University of Texas at Austin, BA
Plan II Honors Program and Anthropology
Honors Thesis: "An analysis of the current state of primate conservation education: Can we help primates make the grade?"
Advisors: Dr. Rebecca Lewis and Dr. Mariah Hopkins
Select Honors and Awards
  • First Place: Three-Minute Thesis Competition (2023) | Stony Brook University (Presentation: "Paradise Lost in Madagascar?")
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)
  • Stony Brook University, Graduate Council Fellowship (2015)

      *See full CV for additional honors and grants
Professional Appointments
  • Project Conservation Data Officer, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Fixed Term: 2025 - 2026) 
  • Research Assistant Professor, Stony Brook University (2025 - Present)
  • Researcher and Fact Checker, National Geographic Kids - Books (2022 - Present)
  • Project Manager, IUCN-SOS sponsored radio education project with Centre ValBio Research Station (2016 - 2017)
  • Conservation Education Presenter, Disney's Animal Kingdom (2013 - 2014)
Field Experience
  • Madagascar (southeast): Ifanadiana district (multiple rural communities) | 11+ months across Fall 2019, 2018, 2017, Summer 2016
  • Madagascar (west): Menabe region (multiple rural communities) and Ankoatsifaka Research Station | 2 months across Summer 2017, 2012
  • Indonesia: Cipaganti, Java with The Little Fireface Project | 4+ months in Fall 2014

      *Visit here for snapshots from the field!
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • Borgerson C, Kling KJ, Wuchter A, Pascal E, Paschalis EM, Razafindrapaoly BN, & Eppley TM. (2026). How economic choices affect livelihoods in Madagascar's park-adjacent communities and what it means for conservation and development. Environmental Development 57, 101357. 
  • Thompson KET, Borgerson C, Wright PC, Randriamanetsy JM, Andriamavosoloarisoa NNM, Andrianantenaina MY, Razafindrahasy TA, Rothman RS, Daniels CW, Kling KJ, Surkis C, & Twiss KC. (2025). Management implications of human livelihood strategies on Madagascar's coastal landscapes. Conservation Science and Practice, e70006.
  • Kling KJ, Eppley TM, Markham AC, Wright PC, Razafindrapaoly BN, Delox R, Rasolofoniaina BJR, Randriamanetsy JM, Elison P, Andriamahaihavana M, Gibson D, Rasamisoa DC, Razafindramanana J, Vasey N, Daniels CW, & Borgerson C. (2024). Provisioning services decline for both people and Critically Endangered wildlife in a rainforest transformation landscape. People and Nature 6: 627-645.
  • Kling KJ, Yaeger K, & Wright PC. (2019). Trends in forest fragment research in Madagascar: Documented responses by lemurs and other taxa. American Journal of Primatology 82: e23092. [Invited contribution to the Special Issue: Surviving in fragmented landscapes: Identifying variables that influence primate population viability and persistence in forest fragments]
  • Kling KJ & Hopkins ME. (2015). Are We Making the Grade? Practices and Reported Efficacy Measures of Primate Conservation Education Programs. American Journal of Primatology 77: 434 - 448.

Dissertation
  • Kling, KJ. (2024). Natural resource use by forest-adjacent communities in northeastern Madagascar: its drivers and implications. Publication Number 31298180. [Doctoral Dissertation, State University of New York at Stony  Brook]. Available from Dissertations & Theses @ SUNY Stony Brook, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (ID: 3100834533).

Technical Reports
  • Borgerson C, Kling KJ, Wuchter A, Pascal E, Paschalis EM, Razafindrapaoly BN, & Eppley TM. (2024). How economic choices affect livelihoods in Madagascar's park-adjacent communities and what it means for conservation and development: An Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve human livelihoods assessment. Full Forests commissioned study for Wildlife Madagascar. 64 pg.

Encyclopedia Entries and Non-Peer Reviewed Articles
  • Rothman RS, Kling KJ, Andrianandrianina LH, Andrianoely D, Rabeson P, Rakotonirina P, Ramanantsoa J, Randrianarista D, Solo J, Docherty M, Razafimahaimodison JC, & Wright PC. (2023). Centre ValBio Research Station: International Centre for the Valorization of Biodiversity. Ecotropica 24: 1-6.
  • Kling KJ & Rowe AK. (2022). "Madagascar Forests and Shrublands." In Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation, Vol. 2, Dominick A. DellaSala, Michael I. Goldstein (eds.), Elsevier, 26-36.
  • Kling KJ & Wright PC. (2019). "Mating Systems of Lemurs." In Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, 2nd ed, Jae Chun Choe (ed). Elsevier, 568-574.
  • Kling K & Wright P. (2018). "Conservation, Primates." In The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology, 1st ed, Wenda Trevathan (ed).  John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1-14.
  • Wright PC, Kling K, & Cornejo F. (2017). "Primate Conservation Education." In The International Encyclopedia of Primatology, 1st ed, M. Bezanson, K. C. MacKinnon, E. Riley, C. J. Campbell, K. AI. Nekaris, A. Estrada, A. F. Di Fiore, S. Ross, L. E. Jones‐Engel, B. Thierry, R. W. Sussman, C. Sanz, J. Loudon, S. Elton and A. Fuentes (eds.), John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1043-1053.
  • Mongle CS, Nishimura AC, Kling KJ, Lamb AR, Ekanayake-Weber M, & de Vries, D. (2017). Anthropologists get jazzed for science in New Orleans. Evolutionary Anthropology 26: 193-195.
  • Lauterbur ME, Kling KJ, Lamb AR, Sbeglia GC, & Zamora AJ. (2017).  Primatology on the Pier: The 2016 joint meeting of the International Primatological Society and the American Society of Primatologists. Evolutionary Anthropology 26: 3-6.
  • Perlman RF, Nishimura AC, Mongle CS, Kling K, Guevara EE, Arslanian K. (2016). Life's a peach for anthropologists in Atlanta. Evolutionary Anthropology 25: 81-83.
Outreach
  • Camp Guide, Camp Zoofari, Houston Zoo, Houston, TX (Summer 2026)
  • Speaker, MSc Course, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Greater London, UK (2025)
  • Education Volunteer, Bronx Zoo, New York City, NY (2020 - 2025)
  • Speaker, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Stony Brook University, NY (2024)
  • Storyteller,  Live Storytelling Event (Online), Graduate Student Organization and Alan Alda Center, Stony Brook University, NY (2021)
  • Speaker, Book Club (Online), Houston Zoo Volunteers, Houston, TX (2021)
  • Speaker, Distance learning, Long Island Explorium, Port Jefferson, NY (2020)
  • Speaker, Distance learning, Presbyterian School (6th grade), Houston, TX (2020)
  • Speaker, Children's Aid PS 8 (Early Childhood - Pre-K), New York City, NY (2019)
  • Speaker, Norwood Avenue Elementary School (assemblies for K-1, 2-3, 4-5th grade), Northport, NY (2019)
  • Judge, Long Island Science & Engineering Fair (LISEF), Woodbury, NY (2019, 2020)
  • Speaker, Madagascar Connect study abroad (high school students), Rhinebeck, NY (2019)
  • Commentator, Roger W. Sullivan Conference for AP Social Studies Students, Smithtown High School West, Smithtown, NY (2017)
  • Speaker, Lanier Middle School (6th grade), Houston, TX (2017)
  • Keynote speaker, Bulkeley Middle School's Madagascar Day, Rhinebeck, NY (2016)

      *See full CV for professional presentations and teaching experience
Select Professional Service and Certifications
  • Junior Leader, PhD Career Ladder Program, Stony Brook University (2023 - 2024)
  • Co-founder and Treasurer, Decolonization and Antiracism Group, Stony Brook University (2020 - 2024)
  • Elected Student Representative, DEI Committee, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University (2020 - 2021)
  • Vice President/ Webmaster and Co-President, Behavioral Ecology Group, Stony Brook University (2020 - 2021 and 2018, respectively)
  • Ad hoc Reviewer, American Journal of Primatology, Lemur News, Oryx, The Journal of Wildlife Management, and the Journal for Emerging Investigators (2019 - Present)

      Certified in...

Header image: Train arriving in Andrambovato, Madagascar