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2013. What is Operation Wallacea? Tropical scientific expeditions in 9countries 200+ academics running more than 120 projects Results published in peer-reviewed.

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Presentation on theme: "2013. What is Operation Wallacea? Tropical scientific expeditions in 9countries 200+ academics running more than 120 projects Results published in peer-reviewed."— Presentation transcript:

1 2013

2 What is Operation Wallacea? Tropical scientific expeditions in 9countries 200+ academics running more than 120 projects Results published in peer-reviewed journals

3 What is Operation Wallacea? 30 new vertebrate species to science discovered Large temporal and spatial data sets obtained from tuition fee funded model Data used to assess the performance of conservation management programs

4 Global Research and Conservation Strategy Stage 1 - Assessing ecosystem diversity and function Stage 2 - Monitoring ecosystem change Stage 3 - Monitoring socio-economic change Stage 4 - Establishing & monitoring the effectiveness of conservation management programs

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6 Team Members Principal Researchers Assistant Researchers Visiting Academics Dissertation Students Research Assistants Medical Staff Pre –med Expedition Medicine Operations Staff

7 Joining as a research assistant Research Assistant Gain experience for CV or for helping to choose career direction Fixed Itineraries (Madagascar, Egypt, Cuba, Guyana, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, ) Personalized Itineraries (Indonesia, Honduras) Pre –meds: Expedition Medical course

8 Spiny Forest Biodiversity Survey Data gathered for Biosphere application for Mandrare Valley Madagascar wildlife and communities course in week 1 Rotate between camps across Ifotaka North Scan and focal sampling of Verrauxs Sifaka and Ring Tailed Lemurs Spotlight and trapping surveys for nocturnal lemurs Madagascar

9 Spiny Forest Biodiversity Survey Invasive plant surveys Vegetation surveys using Gentry plots Bird point counts and mist netting Iguana activity budgets Day time and spotlight surveys for chameleon diversity Madagascar

10 Mountain Desert Biodiversity Survey Data contributing to biodiversity atlas survey of St Katherine Protectorate Desert living training in first 3 days 4 days surveying in mountain desert and living in Bedouin camps Surveys are for target plants, reptiles and bird surveys from transects, small mammal trapping, grazing pressure of ibex etc Egypt

11 Dive training or Red Sea Reef Ecology Course Egypt

12 Reef surveys on Isle of Youth Data contributing to management plan for southern Isle of Youth Sustainab;e Management Zone Based in remote hotel and working off research ships Week 1 learning to dive and training in reef fish identification ori if already dive trained completing a Caribbean reef ecology course Week 2 rotating between research ship surveying remote reefs with stereo video, helping the manatee surveys and analysing the stereo video data Cuba

13 Stereo video surveys Cuba

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15 Analyzing stereo-video footage

16 Guiana Shield Forest Biodiversity surveys Data being used to assess effects of selective logging on biodiversity Based in remote forest field camps Week 1 Guiana Shield forest ecology and jungle survival course Weeks 2 and 3 working from 2 different camps Mist netting for birds and bats Herpetofauna surveys from transects and night spotlighting Large mammal transect surveys Guyana

17 Burro Burro river surveys Guyana

18 Mayan Forest Biodiversity Surveys First large-scale surveys of the vast Calakmul Biopshere. Data collected for REDD+ application and data for setting sustainable hunting quotas Mayan forest ecology course and visit to the Mayan ruins Butterfly and moth surveys Mist netting for birds and bats Pitfall traps and transect searches for herpetofauna Transect sampling and camera trapping for mammals Mexico

19 Forest elements of the Mexico programme Mexico

20 Marine elements of the Mexico programme Mexico

21 Amazonian Forest surveys Data collected for REDD+ application and data for setting hunting quotas Based on research ships Amazonian wildlife conservation course in week 1 Bird mist netting and water bird transects River dolphin surveys Fish community surveys Peru

22 Amazonian Forest surveys Amphibian surveys Macaw counts Large mammal transects Camera trapping River turtle population counts and nest transferring (depending on wate r levels) Primate niche separation and time budgeting Peru

23 Caiman surveys Peru

24 Elephant carrying capacity surveys Two low veld sites – one in Kruger and one inThanda in KwaZulu Natal How do you determine elephant carrying capacity? Bush training and savannah ecology course in week 1. Week 2 onwards field surveys for half a day each day Other half in camp completing African wildlife conservation course South Africa

25 Sodwana Bay, South Africa South Africa

26 Personalised itinerary options 2, 4, 6 or 8 weeks Select the training course and research assistant options for your itinerary Options in Indonesia and Honduras

27 Training courses Jungle training and Wallacea wildlife course Canopy Access Dive training Indo Pacific reef ecology Dive Master training Indonesia

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29 Marine research assistant projects in Indonesia

30 Training courses Jungle training and Neotropical wildlife course Canopy Access Dive training Caribbean reef ecology Dive Master training Honduras

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33 Expedition medicine Expedition medicine experiential course (4weeks; jungle training, DNA, biodiversity monitoring, and dive training. Includes a week long course on expedition medicine) Medical Electives (8 weeks shadowing different doctors supporting the Opwall expeditions in the cloud forests and reefs of Honduras)

34 Dissertation research topics Complete data collection over summer 90% + of students get top two grades for field projects Opwall projects at Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Toronto, Birmingham, Manchester etc have won best departmental dissertations

35 Academic support

36 Botany and Invertebrate Research Topics Environmental impacts on leaf formation Epiphytes in cloud forests Forest disturbance impacts on butterflies Orchid bee diversity Niche separation in tarantulas Dung beetle communities in cloud forest Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras

37 Herpetofauna Research Topics Impacts of habitat on Sulawesi herpetofauna Abundance and distribution of threatened amphibians in cloud forest Population ecology of Hog Island Boas Behaviour and ecology of ctenosaurs Niche separation in caimans Herpetofaun acommunities in Mexico Sea turtle behaviour and nest site preferences Colour change in chameleons and leaf tailed geckos Population levels of Nile crocodiles in Madagascar Population levels of colubrid snakes Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Madagascar

38 Bird Ecology Research Topics Habitat associations of Sulawesi birds Behaviour of island birds Cloud forest bird communities Assessing detectability of forest birds Effects of fire on winter bird communities Bird communities in different Amazonian habitats Water bird communities in the Amazon Endemic bird habitat associations in Madagascar Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras, South Africa, Peru, Madagascar

39 Mammal Research Topics Sulawesi forest bat communities Civet ranging behaviour Arboreal marsupial ecology in Sulawesi Population levels of Sulawesi megafauna Vasectomy impact s on elephant behaviour Carrying capacity of reserves for elephant Distribution patterns of large herbivores Niche separation in Amazonian dolphins Occupancy modelling and camera trapping mammals in Amazonia, Mexico or Madagascar Comparison of mist net and sonogram surveys for bats Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras, South Africa, Peru

40 Primate Research Topics Effects of forest disturbance on Buton Macaque behaviour Sleeping tree selectivity in tarsiers Niche separation in Amazonian primates Spider monkey grouping patterns Feeding ecology, habitat selection and activity budgets in Coquerels and Verreauxs Sifakas Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Madagascar

41 Marine Ecology Research Topics Resource utilisation of reef fish across environmental gradients Association between anemone fish and host anemones Competition between hard coral species Comparison between reef and reef fish survey methods Island biogeography of coral reef patches Sea urchin ecology in the Caribbean Changes in reef fish from stereo video surveys Reef fish and benthic communities in Madagascar Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Madagascar

42 Intertidal Research Topics Niche separation in fiddler and sentinel crabs Physiological adaptations of rock pool species Seagrass ecology Impact of mangrove degradation on functionality Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras

43 Environmental Science Research Topics Impact of coral growth forms on biodiversity Photoacclimation response of reef building corals Effects of Crown of Thorns starfish on reefs Effects on corallite morphology of sedimentation Spatial variation in coral mortality Environmental impact of seaweed farms Hydrography & water quality of coastal lagoons in Mexico Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras

44 Marine Physiology Research Topics Effects of noisy soundscapes on settling crabs Physiology of cephalopods Temperature preferences of intertidal fishes Water loss resistance of intertidal crabs Emergence patterns in mudskipper species in relation to water loss Resistance of tropical frogs to water loss Ecophysiology of mangrove corals Dissertation topics – Indonesia

45 Fisheries Research Topics Changes in the Kaledupa reef fishery 2007 – 2013 Effects of fish fences on fisheries Cleaner fish behavioural strategies A comparison of fish diversity in different Amazonian habitats Stream fish diversity in cloud forest Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Peru

46 Genetics Research Topics Barcoding diversity of Cusuco cloud forest Landscape genetics of amphibians Chytrid fungus impacts on frogs Genetic diversity in tarantulas Dissertation topics - Honduras

47 Spatial Ecology and GIS Research Topics Mapping forest change in Sulawesi Species distribution modelling Landscape ecology in Madagascar Remote sensing and environmental modelling in Madagascar Developing monitoring protocols for REDD+ Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Madagascar

48 Conservation Management Research Topics Resilience of marine dependent communities Impact of ecotourism growth in the Wakatobi Islands Forest land tenure in Madagascar Economic impacts of tourism in southern Madagascar Natural resource dependent livelihoods in Mandrare Valley Assessment and valuation of ecosystem service provision in Madagascar Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Madagascar

49 Dates and Prices Expeditions run over the summer vacations Itinerary advice emailed Prices 2 weeks - $1750 4 weeks - £3200 6 weeks - $4350 8 weeks - $5500 Professional fundraising support with information about grant opportunities

50 Masters field placements available for 6 months from January 2014 PhD grants available Staff positions After your Opwall expedition

51 Feedback from the 2012 expeditions Tremendous, this trip clarified for me what I want to do for my Masters and inspired me to pursue a career in conservation within herpetology. Opwall scientists are amazing role models. Josh Twining, Birmingham University; Research Assistant, Indonesia Expedition You come for one reason but want to stay for another. I was most profoundly affected by the knowledge I learnt outside the traditional learning environments. Natalia Paine, Harvard University, USA; Research Assistant, Indonesia Expedition The most amazing six weeks anyone could ask for. Great fun was had on an amazing reserve with outstanding rangers. So much learnt and so many amazing friends made. I cannot recommend this research program enough. Eleanor Rendells, University of Southampton, UK; Dissertation Student, South Africa Expedition Brilliant, the guidance of the science staff was invaluable and will likely aid me through the remainder of my degree and any future academic prospects. Robert Martin, Bangor University, UK; Dissertation Student, Madagascar Expedition

52 2013


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