Can a video game save the world? Co-founder of Bright Frog Game Studios, Gabi Fleury, will share the company’s human-wildlife conflict video game, Operation Ferdinand, the beta-testing process with Niassa Carnivore Project in Mozambique, chat about the development of the game, game theory, challenges, and potential avenues for future use! Operation Ferdinand is a unique predator and livestock conflict prevention effort that is a novel blending of ecological education and video game design.
Recently recognized by Forbes annual 30 Under 30 Class of 2021 in the Science Category, Gabriela (Gabi) Fleury, is a Brazilian-American conservation biologist who has worked in carnivore conservation and landscape ecology on three different continents. Gabi majored in geographic science at James Madison University focusing on lion/livestock issues and received a master’s degree in conservation biology from University of Cape Town in South Africa looking at long-term impacts of communal farming on a resettled community’s environment. Working as the conservation partnerships officer for the Rainforest Trust, Gabi’s specialty is human dimensions research, looking at the impact of humanity on wildlife species and the complexity inherent within. She received a Fulbright Study/Research Award for work in Botswana.
Bright Frog Game Studios is an independent game studio that aims to create environmental education video games to address the most pressing issues that weigh upon our world, from human and wildlife conflict and beyond. Grounded in real-world science, it is driven to get children and adults of all ages excited and informed about conservation through a unique and interactive medium.
Location
Online via Zoom