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Independent Research

Visiting scientists and students from around the world come to Blue Ventures’ field site in Andavadoaka, southwest Madagascar, to work on independent research projects and dissertations.

Visiting scientists and students can research a wide range of conservation and ecological projects based at our field site in the village of Andavadoaka, located along the southwest coast of Madagascar. Volunteers who join Blue Ventures’ six-week conservation expeditions may also be able to use their time in Andavadoaka to earn credit toward their university courses.

Past research projects have covered such diverse issues as ecological monitoring of coral reefs and feasibility studies for tourism development in the region. A list of previous project titles is available here.

Blue Ventures does not offer funding for independent research projects, but staff are able to provide supervision and guidance to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

We suggest that undergraduate students choose a project that can utilise archived databases and is not dependent on new data collection due to the difficult logistics and time constraints of this remote region. Depending on the amount of supervision required there might be a small fee associated with covering supervision time from Blue Ventures’ research teams.

Project ideas must support and contribute to the overall conservation goals of Blue Ventures. Please see below for current project proposals - we welcome other project ideas and suggestions.

For further information on any of these projects, or queries regarding other research opportunities, please contact us.

If you are interested in undertaking a research project with Blue Ventures please:

 

Blue Ventures currently has a number of project proposals:
1 (Maintirano, Madagascar) Feasibility study of sea cucumber/seaweed farming
2 (Maintirano, Madagascar) Feasilibity of implementing a fees and/or fishing quotas system managed by the local community
3 (Maintirano, Madagascar) The assessment of the sea cucumber fishery of the Barren Isles using Participatory Fisheries Stock Assessment (PARfish) methods
4 (Maintirano, Madagascar) The status of nesting turtles in the Barren Isles, West Madagascar
5 (Maintirano, Madagascar) An inventory of the bird species on the Barren Isles, West Madagascar
6 (Maintirano, Madagascar) Environmental and social impact assessment of Barren Isles Marine Protected Area
7 (Maintirano, Madagascar) Tourism feasibility study for Barren Isles, West Madagascar
8 (Madagascar) The analysis of historic and present day agents, drivers and underlying causes of mangrove degradation and deforestation in Madagascar at the national, regional and local level
9 (Madagascar) The analysis of historic and present day mangrove sets in Madagascar at the national, regional and local level
10 (Madagascar) The analysis of dendrometric field measurements from mangrove forests in south-western coastal Madagascar
11 (Madagascar) Can community-based data collectors play an important role in eliminating the data deficiency in artisanal and traditional fisheries in Madagascar?
12 (Madagascar) Spatial analysis of resource use by artisanal fishers in SW Madagascar
13 (Madagascar) Spatial analysis of resource use by octopus fishers in SW Madagascar
14 (Madagascar) Status of bird populations within the mangroves and forests of the Velondriake Locally Managed Marine Area, SW Madagascar
15 (Madagascar or Home) The effectiveness of volunteer collected data to assess changes in reef health in SW Madagascar
16 (Madagascar) The potential ecological and fisheries impacts of beach seine net fishing in SW Madagascar
17 (Madagascar) Assessment of the Ecology and Traditional Fishery of the Mud Crab (Scylla serrata) in Western Madagascar
18 (Madagascar) Analysis of composition, trends and sustainability of commercial fisheries in Madagascar
19 (Madagascar) Building local population models of Octopus cyanea
20 (Madagascar) Testing the “depth refuge hypothesis” for Octopus cyanea
21 (Madagascar) The use of settlement plates around a permanent reserve and heavily fished site: is coral larval settlement a limiting factor in coral recovery?
22 (Madagascar) Assessment of sea water quality in the Velondriake region: is water quality a limiting factor in coral recovery?
23 (Madagascar) An assessment of the ecological characteristics of reef habitat most suitable for octopus; does reef flat quality alter the success of the short term fisheries closures?
24 Past Thesis Titles