• Royce Fellowship
Colby
Gottert

Concentration 

Development Studies

Award Year 

2001

Colby traveled to Ifaty, Madagascar, a coastal region in the southwest of the country, where he studied both the costs and benefits of protecting the coral reef. He also conducted a workshop for local youth, informing them about the effects of human actions on the reef and identifying simple conservation measures.

Colby is founder/owner and senior producer with Digital Development Communications, a multimedia production company that provides communications services to international development organizations around the world. DDC maintains offices in the United States and Madagascar. His films are used by international development organizations and private companies to inform, educate and communicate specific social, environmental and public health messages. Colby has produced films for a range of clients, including the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Academy for Educational Development and Conservation International. He recently produced “Life Out of Balance: Climate Change in the Developing World” for the World Bankʼs Sustainable Development Network. Colby has provided communications strategy development services to USAID/Madagascarʼs Environment and Rural Development Program and PACT-Madagascar and has served as a special communications adviser to the Rio Tinto, QIT Madagascar Minerals Project. He has also worked closely with the Government of Madagascar to produce social marketing tools, including films about childhood nutrition and HIV/AIDS and created marketing strategies and communications tools for small businesses in Madagascar. Colby lives in Madagascar with his wife and daughter Lily. Watch Colby's Ted Talk here.