Laurence Adel Rasoamihaingo

Research Programme Assistant (Madagascar)

About me

I hold a master's degree in zoology from the Faculty of Science at the University of Mahajanga. I have previously worked for a number of conservation organisations to monitor and conserve endangered species, and I have worked alongside local communities to develop integrated habitat conservation programmes, including Operation Wallacea, Development Biodiversity Conservation Action for Madagascar (DBCAM) and the Service d’Appui pour la Gestion de l’Environnement (SAGE). In November 2017, I started working with WWT as a PhD student to do research on the habitat management of the Critically Endangered Madagascar Pochard. I am currently completing my doctorate at the Doctoral School of Biodiversity and Tropical Environments in the Faculty of Science, University of Toliara.

My interests are in conservation and research on endangered species, and through WWT, I would like to deepen and strengthen my skills in monitoring conservation effectiveness and developing interactive and multi-stakeholder conservation. Now as a research assistant working for WWT in Madagascar, my ambition is to contribute to the effectiveness of the conservation of wetlands in Madagascar in line with socio-economic development, resilience and adaptation to climate change.

My role

My role as research assistant includes:

• Assisting with fieldwork at Lake Tseny, and Lake Sofia and possibly elsewhere, as required by the UK research team and country co-ordinator.
• Collating data from WWT project sites (Sofia, Tseny, Bemanevika and Ambonara) and share with the UK research team.
• Ensuring good quality data collection for WWT projects.
• Analysing data and write reports as required.
• Supervising students at both sites, including providing training, assisting with travel and subsistence arrangements, assisting with and supervising fieldwork.
• Liaising with universities (Tana, Mahajanga) to arrange student projects and research permits for WWT, at the direction of the Country Coordinator.
• Aiding the Country Coordinator with reports to donors and the government.
• Liaising with project partners and government departments.
• Representing WWT at official events at the project sites.
• Contributing to the preparation of journal articles and other publications based on the field research results.
• Maintaining research equipment to a good standard and arrange replacement when necessary.
• Assisting with the management, storage, documentation and export of specimens.

Experience and interests

• Experience of fieldwork in remote conditions.
• Collecting data from forest bird inventories.
• Undertaking social surveys.
• Analysing samples in the lab, including identifying and counting the remains of organisms under a microscope.
• Analysing and exploring the resulting data in various statistical programs.

Publications

Andrew J Bamford, Félix Razafindrajao, Laurence Adel Rasoamihaingo. 2017. A survey of the Ambonara wetlands, Madagascar: an internationally important site for waterbirds. African Bird Club, p 17.

Andrew J Bamford, Laurence Adel Rasoamihaingo, Harison Andriambelo & Felix Razafindrajao. 2022. Low resilience of a papyrus-dominated wetland to local stressors, p15 (en cours de submission).