Three major figures in research on Malagasy biodiversity were distinguished yesterday at the Iavoloha State Palace. Professors Jonah Ratsimbazafy, Russell Alan Mittermeier, and Steven Michael Goodman received the honors of the Republic for several decades devoted to studying and conserving Madagascar's natural heritage. The ceremony celebrated scientific careers that have far transcended the boundaries of the Great Island. Professor Jonah Ratsimbazafy was elevated to the rank of Grand Officer of the National Order, while Russell Alan Mittermeier and Steven Michael Goodman were made Commanders of the National Order. A specialist in primates, Prof. Jonah Ratsimbazafy has dedicated nearly 30 years to research on lemurs and their conservation. President of the Study and Research Group on Primates of Madagascar (GERP), he also made history in primatology by becoming the first Malagasy and first African to chair the International Primatological Society. He is notably associated with the discovery of Microcebus jonahi. Dr. Russell Alan Mittermeier's career is more focused on conservation at the international scale. His work has contributed to making Madagascar one of the world's priority conservation territories and to mobilizing funding for threatened species and protected areas. For his part, Prof. Steven Michael Goodman devoted 37 years to studying Malagasy biodiversity. His research is associated with the discovery of more than 90 endemic species. With some 770 scientific publications and around thirty books, his work constitutes a major contribution to knowledge of the island's natural heritage. Through these three distinctions, several decades of scientific research on Madagascar are thus recognized at the highest level of the State.