Overview (from Wikipedia.org): Biruté Mary Galdikas, O.C., Ph.D. (born, 1946 (age 63), Wiesbaden, Germany), is a primatologist, conservationist, anthropologist, and author of several books relating to the endangered species orangutan as well as great apes and Tanjung Puting National Park.  Well known in the field of modern primatology, Galdikas is recognized by many as the leading authority on orangutans.
Of Lithuanian heritage, Galdikas grew up in Toronto, Canada.
In college she studied psychology and biology. In 1966, Galdikas earned her bachelor’s degrees in psychology and zoology from the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Los Angeles summa cum laude, her master’s degree in anthropology from UCLA in 1969 and her doctorate in anthropology, also from UCLA, in 1978. It was there, as a graduate student, she first met famed Kenyan paleontologist Louis Leakey and expressed her desire to study orangutans in their natural habitat.
Determined to study and understand the elusive “red ape”in the wild, Galdikas convinced Leakey to help find funding for her endeavor, despite his initial reservations. Orangutans are intelligent great apes native to Malaysia and Indonesia. They have long arms and reddish, sometimes brown or orange, hair.
In 1971, Galdikas and her then husband, photographer Rod Brindamour, arrived in one of the world’s few remaining wild places, Tanjung Puting National Park, then a Reserve, in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan). Galdikas become the third of a trio of women encouraged by Leakey to study humankind’s nearest relatives, the great apes, in their natural habitats. Known as “Leakey’s Angels”, the other two were Jane Goodall, who studied chimpanzees, and Dian Fossey, who became a martyr in her quest to study and protect mountain gorillas.
The Leakey Foundation, Wilkie Brothers Foundation, and the National Geographic Society helped Galdikas fund her field research on orangutans in Borneo. Before Leakey’s fortuitous decision to sponsor Galdikas as the third of his “Angels”, the orangutan was much less understood than the African great apes. Galdikas went on to further burnish Leakey’s legacy by greatly expanding scientific knowledge of orangutan behavior, habitat, and ecology.
While campaigning actively on behalf of primate conservation, Galdikas continues her field research, among the lengthiest continuous studies of a mammal ever conducted in the history of science. Her husband, Pak Bohap, is a Dayak farmer, tribal elder, and co-director of the orangutan program in Kalimantan. She has also written several books, including a memoir, written long after her fellow “Angels” published theirs, entitled Reflections of Eden. In it, Galdikas describes her experiences at Camp Leakey, her efforts to protect forest and to rehabilitate wildborn ex-captive orangutans and release them into the rain forest.
Dr. Galdikas is currently a Full Professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and Professor Extraordinaire at Indonesia’s Universitas Nasional in Jakarta. She is also president and co-founder of the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) in Los Angeles, California. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Tyler Award as well as the Kalpataru Award, the highest environmental prize given by the Republic of Indonesia, and the Pride of Lithuania award. She was also made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Most recently, she was presented with the Key to the City of Las Vegas by Mayor Oscar Goodman!
You’ve wrote a very well-written blog post.
If it’s ok with you, I would like to ask permission to use your article as it fits to my obstruction. I will be glad to negotiate to pay you or hire you for this.
With Regards from
Republic Polytechnic
What are you’re favourite colours??
Birute —
Is this blog still active? I want to get directly in touch with you.
How are you?
Mary
(Mary Griswold Smith)
Dear Mary:
Great to hear from you! My blog is semi-active. I think I last posted in July 2012. I post much more often on my Twitter account.
My e-mail is drbirute@gmail.com
And how are you and where are you?
Warmly,
Biruté Mary Galdikas
Hey, I should try turning lead into gold! I decided to search for you within the past hour, and bingo!, here you are. I’ll send you a note using your email address. I want to ask you something.
Remembering the past with great affection,
Mary
Birute, dear —
I don’t want to pester you, but did you received the email I sent to your Gmail address on the 17th? I used drbirute@gmail.com Is this correct? No hurry to answer — I know you’re busy — but I just want to make sure it didn’t disappear into cyberspace!
All best,
Mary
[…] now I really should read books by Louis Leakey’s other famous protégées, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas, though I might need to take a break in-between so I don’t overload on great […]
Hello,
it is increadible what you did and what you are actually doing.
In this year I get my A-Levels in Germany and I have to make a presentation(it is part of the A-levels).
My presentation is about “Does primate-behavior have an influence on human behavior?” . This topic is specialised on Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey but I make this presentation with my friend and we also want to talk about Frans-De-Waal and you. So it would be kind of nice of you writing me a private email,to have the opportunity of asking questions etc.
Yours sincerely
Gabriella Pap
[…] Dr. BirutÄ— Marija Filomena Galdikas  Biography | Official Blog: https://drbirute.wordpress.com/bio/ […]