Our group came from Alcester Grammar School in the West Midlands. Our expedition group consisted of four year 12 students and 14 year 13 students and our supervisors were our teachers, Mr. Gill and Ms McLean. Everyone in our group who came onto the expedition were very eager about the study of ecology and biology as a whole and so we were all passionate about the trip and had an enjoyable time whilst out in Fiji.

Fundraising for the trip was done in many different ways. as a group we had no group fundraising pot but rather did so individually. Many people such as myself got jobs to help fundraise for the trip for example I (Harry Benton) got a job working at McDonalds to help fund the trip, taking me 6 months of working. Another of our group setup a quiz night and raffle helping them to raise somewhere in the region of a brilliant £800 for the trip.

Everyone on the group prepared separately, but we had a few meetings on the lead up to the trip to help us prepare, as well as some extra activities that were needed. We were given a list to help us pack what we would need, to ensure the expedition went smoothly and was enjoyable including medical supplies and rainforest friendly clothes. We were also informed on the importance of biodegradable wash products so we had to locate some for the trip, which was kindly donated by green people. This company was a good call, as their products were made from 100% biodegradable products which we would be able to safely use in the rainforest without damaging the delicate ecosystem that is found in the area. We also managed to get these products for free, in exchange for publicity for their products which allowed use to easily acquire biodegradable products whilst raising awareness for a brand. We were also taught the customs to use for when we stayed with the locals for 1 day and 2 nights so we could create a welcoming environment for the locals that were hosting us.  In preparation for the marine week on the Fiji expedition, we were recommended to acquire a PADI diving license which would allow us to start helping the onsite researchers a lot quicker as we were already qualified to dive. Most of the group went on to do this, with some deciding to learn at the site. Some of us had already earnt a diving license so we arranged a day after school, in which we met up at the local leisure centre to have a refresher on diving in a pool, in which we were shown hand signals and procedures for assembling and disassembling the gear. We also managed to get a sponsorship from the company Gul which allowed us to have wetsuits for the diving sections of the trip. Without these suits we would have been less prepared for the trip when we arrived, having to borrow the wetsuits that were already there.

The trip began at Alcester Grammar School on the 12th of July 2019. We had a brief meeting with the trip leader Mr. Gill before loading the minibus for Heathrow. From there we had a 13hour flight to Singapore where we spent an hour or so making our way to the connecting flight to Nadi, Fiji which was another 10 hours. After our arrival we had another small flight to Savusavu where we had a nice meal in the harbour before getting the bus to the homestay village of Vusaratu where we were greeted with a warm welcome and fed some traditional Fijian food before going to bed with our homestay families. The house was very nice and welcoming especially after having travelled such a long way to get there. Me and one other student were staying with one of the older residents of the village and was keen to take care of us and make us feel as if we were part of a family. We each had our own room that was fully prepared for

us with mosquito nets being hung over both our beds to protect us from the mosquitoes. In the mornings we were treated to many delicious foods for breakfast, the highlight being the scrambled eggs and bread that we were provided with which had a very unique taste compared to their counterparts in England. Our homestay was very curious about our lives and so we were happy to talk about our experiences in England and how we were enjoying Fiji. The first day in the village of Vusaratu we were given a village tour where the locals showed us their way of life and things that people would do on a normal day in the village such as mat-weaving and collecting certain plants for medicine or for earning money. Later that day the locals treated us to a lovo dinner on the beach before we went to bed ready for the big hike up the hills to the forest camp the following morning. The hike up to the forest camp was long, slow and difficult in the heat of the day however we did all eventually make it before lunch and our afternoon activities. We had planned to take a coach up to the start of the trail, but it never arrived so we had to start our walk from the village, letting us take in more of the surroundings than we would have.

The 1st week in the forest camp was worked on a rota of spiders, habitats, butterflies and birds. Every day each group did something different until they had completed all of the tasks. My personal favourite was the butterflies as we managed to catch a butterfly that has never been found in the Natewa peninsula before. Although the butterfly was not a new species it had never been recorded in this particular area, so it was a very exciting moment for our group. Once all was done we had to leave the beauty of the rainforest behind for the marine camp. The views there were breath taking over the bay which is the largest bay in the south pacific. during the second week we carried out underwater surveys or some people got their PADI certification or like me, went snorkelling. On the Wednesday morning I stepped outside the tent to see everyone on the beach looking out into the bay during what was meant to be breakfast. To everyone’s surprise, there was a whale out in the middle of the bay where everyone was staring in awe. The rest of the time in the water camp we played various card games when we were not out in the water. After an amazing time in rural Natewa bay we sadly headed to Nadi for 2 nights in Bamboo-backpackers where we went to the garden if the sleeping giant and the Sabeto hot springs. before embarking on the long journey home.

What did we gain and learn from taking part?  We gained knowledge on how the job of ecology works in a real life setting and the types of conditions people work in for the type of job they do. We also gained an appreciation for different cultures from the other side of the world and how different their way of life is to ours, whilst learning about their way of life and how it differs from ours in a more developed country and discovering their viewpoints. Every night once we reached the forest camp and then the marine camp, we were provided with a very engaging lecture on the ecology of the islands of Fiji, some examples of the types of lectures we were given were about the different types of coral and fish in Natewa bay and how to identify and categorize these. Another lecture we were given, that was in the forest camp, was about the different types of islands in Fiji and how the positioning of these islands affected the migration of different species, such as birds and of course humans. We also learnt of the endemic species that were only found on the island that we stayed on Vanua Levu and more specifically the Natewa peninsula, for example the Natewa silktail and Papilio natewa (a swallowtail butterfly). We left with an overall greater understanding of the subject of ecology and more so the ecology of Fiji which will be very useful for the future for all of us if we go into the field of Biology, and a perfect way to get into ecology as a fulltime job. Even for those that do not want to go into ecology, the experience is an invaluable source of information and experiences that will make all of our group stand out from the rest of the crowd, showing our high interest in amazing projects such as this one. It may in the future even lead to some of us being the pioneer of a new discovery in the field, thanks to this expedition.

We are 16 students from King Henry VIII School in Abergavenny, South Wales. In the summer of 2019, we went to Dominica, the “nature island” of the Caribbean. Dominica is the most mountainous and biologically-diverse island in the Lesser Antilles, home to 9 dormant volcanoes and hundreds of different species of endemic flora and fauna. The expedition involved a week in the jungle followed by a week by the sea. We helped collect data for Operation Wallacea and the collaborative world-renowned scientists and university students. In 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Dominica, devastating the island. Consequently, the research we collected is some of the first evidence of the effects of the hurricane on the island. Our school group was comprised of 15-19 year olds, who saw this expedition as an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As a group, we used several fundraising methods in order to raise money for this expedition. Firstly, we decided to write sponsorship letters to send to various companies. From these letters we were able to gain sponsorships from six companies, raising a total of £634.20.We decided to set up stalls at some events, including a school fete, in which we raised money from games such as throwing/kicking a ball through a hole and guessing the sweets in a jar. From these events we raised £149.16. The biggest fundraising event that we carried out was a quiz which we held at a local pub that kindly allowed us to use the pub for the evening. During this we hosted around eight rounds of questions with an interval in-between. We raised money from tickets that we sold to people who wanted to attend the quiz, from food that was made by the owners of the pub and sold during the interval, and from raffle tickets that we also sold during the interval – the prizes from which were announced at the end. The total amount of money we raised from this event was £400.66.

Another fundraising method that we used was taking sponsorship forms around and asking for small donations from people. One time we used these sponsorship forms was at a rugby presentation day, where we took a form to people who had attended the presentation and generally gained donations of 50p to a £1 from everyone there. We also set up Easy Fundraising and Just Giving accounts, using the Easy Fundraising account to raise smaller amounts of money throughout the year, raising over £200, and the Just Giving account to gain donations for our sponsored event, whereby a group of us counted our steps every day (via our phones) and aimed to walk the distance from Abergavenny to Dominica in steps, updating the amount of steps we had done every week or fortnight on a website we had set up. We raised over £150 from this. The website we set up was not only created to show a record of our steps, but also to show information regarding the fundraising activities we had done and were going to be doing, information about why we were fundraising and what the expedition was about, and a sponsorship page to show the companies that had sponsored us. The total amount that we raised as a group, not including any individual fundraising via part-time jobs and other activities, was £1716.72. Also, as a school, we raised money in order to reduce transport costs through buying and selling Krispy Kreme donuts during break times or lunch times in our school. Most of the individuals in our group also raised a lot of money through their own part-time jobs.

When applying for the Murray Foundation Award, we compiled information from the various fundraising activities we had done into a power point. Similar to the paragraph above, this power point showed the process we went through in our fundraising efforts and the amounts of money we raised from each activity. The power point also provided images from some of the fundraising activities, highlighting what we did in our fundraising efforts.

There were several aspects that we had to consider when preparing for the expedition. Firstly, we had to have a basic understanding of the types of wildlife we were likely to encounter when completing the various surveys on the expedition. To do this we used materials provided by OpWall and our school regarding the different types of wildlife. Secondly, we had to ensure that we were fully prepared in terms of the kit we needed to take, and to do this we used kit lists provided by OpWall an our school. We had to buy certain items that were needed for the expedition, some of which were more expensive due to being environmentally friendly and biodegradable, which therefore added to the overall cost, and so we needed to carry out further fundraising in an attempt to cover some of these costs. We also needed to have necessary vaccinations to prevent from certain diseases that could have been caught in Dominica, which meant making doctor’s appointments before the expedition. Furthermore, we had to ensure that our travel documents were in date to allow us to travel to Dominica, meaning that some of us had to update our passports, and this had to be done at least six months before we left. Our PADI documents needed to be completed in order to allow us to snorkel or dive when in Dominica, particularly for people with asthma who wanted to dive as this needed to be checked by doctors or specialists first. Additionally, we needed to attend several school meetings over the course of two years in order to keep up to date with all the necessary information for the expedition. We also needed to take certain amounts of US dollars and Eastern Caribbean dollars, therefore meaning that we needed to exchange some money at a travel agency or post office. Finally, we had to ensure that everything we needed to take to Dominica fitted in our bags, and was organised in a way that would be simple to unpack when we were in Dominica in order to find necessary items for each day.

On the 6^th of July, we woke up at 01:00 in the morning to take minibuses to Gatwick airport. Armed with at least 2 rucksacks each, we boarded a plane to Antigua, the flight taking more than 8 hours. Our last two days of luxury before we arrived at camp consisted of experiencing exciting Caribbean cuisine, swimming in bath-temperature seas and staying in a hotel. By the 8^th, we were sleeping in tents in the middle of the Dominican jungle.

In the first week, we stayed in an eco-lodge which is designed for tourists but is taken over by Operation Wallacea for 2 months of the year.  We bathed in a pool formed by a nearby river and were fed by local cooks. We had to cross 3 rivers to reach our camp, with one coming up to our waists. We took an active part in many different research projects including:

• Mist netting – We woke up at 05:00 to catch birds and stayed out till midnight catching bats. However, Hurricane Maria has meant that the majority of the canopy has been destroyed, therefore increasing the amount of light reaching the forest floor. Subsequently, shrubbery has dramatically increased, including the invasive razor grass. This has meant space for birds towards the forest floor has decreased. Consequently. We caught a limited amount of birds and bats. Despite this, feeling a bats fur and identifying different species was an amazing experience and many of us were astounded by the size and speed of the Dominican bats. One group saw a pair of imperial parrots, which was extraordinary considering that it is believed that there are only about 20 of these birds left on the island.
• Insect surveys – Led by Dr Erica McAlister, a world-renowned scientist from the London Natural History Museum, we caught flies and other flying insects with sweep nets and pooters, which involved us sticking our faces in nets and sucking up flies through a tube! Apparently some of the species we caught are now being displayed in the Natural History Museum!
• Volcanology Day – Robert Watts, a volcanologist monitoring Dominica’s 9 dormant volcanoes took us on a tour around the island, explaining the structure and formation of the island due to historical volcanic eruptions and also the potential dangers posed to the current Dominican population. He then took us to Trafalgar Falls, an amazing 100m waterfall and plunge pool where we could swim. To reach the pool, we had to walk up 200-300m of boulders and were therefore led by a local guide.
• Snorkelling- We travelled to Champagne Reef, which was on the Western side of the island. It is called this due to the Carbon Dioxide vents in the coral reef. There are only five countries in the world that have these vents, caused by volcanic activity below the sea bed. pH levels at the reef are around 7, contrasting with the usual ocean pH  level of 8.1. This is extremely useful, because ocean pH levels are predicted to reach 7.7 in the next 100 years due to climate change. Therefore Champagne Reef can be used as a sort of trial to see how ocean acidification will affect marine life and biodiversity.
• Catching anoles- We caught anoles with a noose on the end of a stick. There are two types of anole (lizard) on Dominica, the native anole and the invasive anole. It is feared that the invasive anole is slowly pushing the native anole to higher altitudes, with potentially the prospect of extinction for the native anole. However, as we went up to Freshwater Lake to catch anoles, located at around 650m above sea level, we only caught the native species of anole.

On the 13^th, Dominica was hit by a storm, which had previously been classed as a hurricane. Sudden downpours of rain covered the island all night and into the morning, meaning we were unable to leave the camp as the rivers blocking the entrance had risen by a metre in the matter of hours! Luckily enough the rivers had returned to their usual levels by the next day, so we were able to leave the camp to travel to Fort Shirley, the old French and British fort situated in the North of Dominica, where we stayed during the second week of our expedition. We travelled to the fort via boat, hoping to see some whales, however we only saw flying fish (which were still pretty spectacular!).

During the second week, students had a choice; we could either complete our PADI Diving Course or we could snorkel, collecting data and attempting to spot different marine life. Two students completed their PADI Diving Course whilst the other fourteen took part in the coral and fish surveys for Operation Wallacea. As part of these surveys, we learnt how to identify different species of fish (e.g. clown fish, scorpion fish, lizard fish, angel fish and damsel fish), sponge, corals and invertebrates. We also calculated the percentage composition of the coral reef on a 50m transect by identifying what was under the tape measure every 25cm (coral, invertebrate, rock , sand, algae). Given most of us had never dived or snorkelled before, it was a pretty surreal experience doing it for the first time in the Caribbean Sea!

By taking part, we all gained a significant experience of what travelling could be like if we chose to take a gap year or wanted to see the world. We saw first-hand the magnificent lives of scientists, and therefore realized how the work we study in school links to that. We learnt that living in a different country (even in a tent) is well worth it, even if some people find it challenging at first. This experience has inspired many of us to focus on pursuing biology or geography-related occupations and has made us realise that the variety of jobs available to us is wider than you can imagine. Furthermore, we were able to explore new cultures in the Caribbean, and met new people from Canada, U.S.A and scientists from around the world.

We spent the £1000 award by putting it towards the travel to Gatwick airport for all the students. This meant the cost of the trip dropped for each student, meaning we had a little more money to spend on buying equipment to prepare us for our expedition. We also bought matching turquoise hoodies so we were easy to spot! This meant the teachers were less stressed and more confident when we were travelling.

To conclude, we would like to say an enormous thank you to the Murray Foundation. You had a massive contribution in sending us on the most amazing experience of our lives!

Mexico was never a country on my travel bucket list; I had no real idea of what any of it was like and had never really considered the nature it might contain. Tropical dry forests were not a habitat type that would have entered my mind when I was daydreaming about the natural wonders I might like to see, and they had never been presented to me as a habitat under immense threat from climate change (this might instead be replaced by tropical rainforest, in both situations). So I was going in rather blind, driven by some gorgeous photos and an enticing description of the bird diversity project, when I chose my project in the Calakmul biosphere reserve in southern Mexico.

After a soul-destroying 4:30am start, followed by a 10 hour plane journey I was greeted unawares by the best burrito ever to grace my mouth on arrival to Cancun. Another agonising 4:30am start for the 8-hour coach journey into the forest was sweetened by the excitement of my imminent arrival into the mysterious jungle.

Arrival to the Mancolona camp, despite my stiff back from the journey and discovering that I was due for ANOTHER 4:30 start the next morning, did not disappoint. I was surrounded by sunlight seeping through a gorgeous green canopy, with the sounds of unknown creatures, tantalisingly close, tempting me already

And then came the animals. Even before I began the week’s survey, I had noticed the fascinating trails of the leaf-cutter ants, cutting across the paths between the tent and the hub of science and food. Once the week had got up and running and provided me with a collared forest falcon outside my tent, a sheep frog on the way to a midnight bathroom trip and a scorpion in the shower, along with countless more species of all groups outside camp, I was enthralled I the forest and ready to begin my dissertation research

The next 5 weeks were spent at various different camps, going on bird surveys; both point counting and mist netting. Stupidly early starts were more than made up for by the grand total of 116 species of birds that I had never seen before in my life. Some highlights include spending two weeks sleeping in a hammock in the heart of the southern forest (Dos Naciones camp), being charged by a howler monkey and seeing my life flash before my eyes (!!) and discovering the most colourful and beautiful beautiful bird species’ I have ever seen (e.g. the green honeycreeper and the collared aracari). I was able to get hands-on experience taking measurements of birds caught in mist nets, and learn more than I could have imagined from a birding genius named Ezequiel.

This really was the experience of a lifetime, and I am so grateful to the Murray foundation for the financial support they gave.

Shelter competition between Lionfish and Caribbean spiny lobster

The invasive lionfish, Pterois volitans, is native to the SE Asian Pacific. Following it’s hypothesised release off the coast of Florida in the 1930s however, the species has spread throughout the Mesoamerican reef system. Lionfish now pose a large threat to many crucial reef species, such as herbivorous (algal grazing) fish, which are essential for maintaining coral dominated reefs. Such fish can effectively mediate reef resistance to phase-shifting to algal dominance in the stead of Lionfish.

P. volitans however, eat many juvenile fish, produce up to 20,000 eggs at once, and have few, if any, natural predators in their invasive range. Reports from fisherman also suggest they may be negatively affecting the charismatic Caribbean spiny lobster; the effects of which are two-fold. Ecologically, lobster are a keystone species on Caribbean reefs (acting as important scavengers and predators), helping to support a healthy reef system. Economically, they represent a major source of income for many coastal dwelling Hondurans, with exports yielding over $100 million annually.

My experiments whilst working with Opwall in Honduras this summer aimed to examine how lionfish may be affecting lobster in terms of sheltering (critical to their lives, as they spend much of the day hiding from predators). I performed my tests by collecting specimens from the local reef of Ensenada and conducting lab behavioural experiments in tanks containing a single shelter, for which the species must compete. Individuals were first acclimatized for 24 hours in holding tanks, before they were transplanted to trial tanks. Here, over a second 24-hour period, the interactions and shelter use of each species was recorded for each trial utilizing an IR camera (lionfish + lobster, lionfish alone or lobster alone) with hope to demonstrate whether the lionfish is indeed having an effect on lobster sheltering.

The video data analysis consisted of measuring the relative times each individual spent either active or inactive whilst near or within the shelter. These measurements, we predict, will accurately yield an indication of how natural sheltering behaviours may be altered by heterospecifics. Other behaviours of interest were also noted, including lionfish fin flares and lobster antennae whips. Following the lab trials, the lionfish were dissected, and morphological measurements were recorded. This data will also be included in our analyses to examine whether physical characteristics explain the observed interactions and behaviours.

On the reef, we also performed coral habitat assessments on shelters and in areas that both lionfish and lobster use naturally, to observe what distinguishing features they prefer in their refugia. Using this data I will be determining a ‘background’ reef assessment, to characterise the reef’s ‘average’ structural characters, before performing specific Lionfish/Lobster shelter assessments (on refugia in which they have been found). From here I will compare the assessments to determine how the shelters used by each species may differ from the reef average, and in what ways (ie. more or less rugose…). An overlap in shelter structure characters between the two species would provide one explanation for any shelter conflict, however we are yet to reach such conclusions.

My time in Honduras did not solely consist of work however! Over the 7-week trip I would dive twice per day on beautiful and incredibly healthy Caribbean coral reef. I was lucky enough to spot a massive range of great finds, from a 8-9ft nurse shark to 2mm Sea Goddess Nudibranchs! Between diving and data analysis, with the large group of other Opwall students, I would fill my time by snorkelling just offshore in search of rays and barracuda, kayak on the lagoon, play beach volleyball, swim in the house pool and run my own mini beach cleans.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Gondwana Game Reserve in South Africa this summer, it was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget.

My own project focused on the distributions and habitat preferences of the large herbivores within the reserve. How these large herbivores utilise and impact on the typically nutrient-poor, endemic fynbos vegetation is relatively unknown although it is important information for solid conservation management. To collect the data, we carried out several transects – recording species, GPS location, numbers, habitat type and several other factors every time any large herbivores were seen along the transects.

However, we were all also expected to chip in and help out with the other projects and research going on in camp, rather than just focusing on our own individual project s. I was slightly apprehensive about that going out to South Africa, but actually working with the group of other dissertation students carrying out bird point counts, vegetation surveys, collecting elephant dung for stress hormone analyses and creating a habitat map of the reserve was one of the highlights of my trip. I was very lucky to end up in such a great group where everyone got on so well, it really made the whole experience that bit extra enjoyable.

In addition to being part of a great group of students, the staff were all amazing as well and I can’t thank them enough for making my time in South Africa so special, I wouldn’t have a bad word to say about any of them. They were all so nice and friendly as well as being some extremely knowledgeable and inspiring people that were only delighted to help or just chat with us students.

Meeting all these awesome people, hopefully making some lasting friendships, learning about fynbos, and interacting with these amazing animals in such an amazing setting was a privilege and an experience I will never forget. I am so glad I took this opportunity with Opwall and WEI, it might just be the best decision I’ve ever made. This taste of field work has definitely helped me realise that this is what I want to do in the future.

Unfortunately, my time in South Africa had to come to an end at some point but I could’ve happily stayed on for at least another 2 months. Now that I’m back home I suppose it’s time now to analyse the data I’ve collected and actually write up my dissertation. While it doesn’t quite compare to being in the field, I’m actually not dreading reading and writing about this project as I am genuinely interested in it. If it all goes according to plan, I hope to investigate some of the reasons behind the habitat preferences of the large herbivores. In particular, looking in to how the different species of herbivore partition resources and assessing the potential for interspecific competition for the limited resources within the fenced reserve. Finally, I hope to tie in how the landscape of fear affects the distributions of the herbivores and determine whether the different herbivores are selecting areas for the resources present or if they prefer more open areas with good visibility where they can see any would-be predators coming.

The Fynbos Biome is a unique part of the world with amazing wildlife, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and am extremely grateful to everyone who supported and helped me get there and make the most of this once in a life -time opportunity.

From the moment I selected my expedition with Operation Wallacea I was in absolute awe of Gondwana. I spent six weeks of my summer in Gondwana Game Reserve, South Africa conducting research for Operation Wallacea and for my master’s project.  When I arrived at Gondwana, I couldn’t believe I was there, having to pinch myself to make sure it was all real. The scenery itself was just breath taking, alongside the encounters with the wildlife throughout my stay.  Gondwana was my first time in South Africa and it provided me with a lot of first experiences!

My project “The Relevance of Primary Productivity for Ungulate Habitat Selection in The Cape Floral Region, South Africa” primarily focused on the use of the Game Transect data collected on Gondwana. These were conducted every day via a 4×4 vehicle along predetermined transects routes. During these surveys is when I saw my first impala, wildebeest, eland, red hartebeest, bushbuck, bontebok, springbok, rhino, zebra, giraffe and elephant! Data collection included GPS coordinates, distance bearing, habitat, visibility, number of individuals, sex of individuals and herd condition. This survey was a new methodology to me and provided me with new skills including use of equipment for measuring and counting, species id and sexing of individuals.

My project relied on another type of survey, habitat mapping, newly developed for this year’s expedition. This was also a new methodology to me but very quickly myself and the other dissertation students picked it up. Following the same game transects, plant species were identified in patches which allowed broad habitat types to be classified. Patches were drawn on QGIS to create and overall habitat map; a first created for the reserve! Already having experience with GIS from my master’s course, I found myself helping other students to use the software. This allowed me to increase my own confidence in the software and give help when required to other people. I also used GIS to produce NDVI maps for my project, something I had not even heard of before my project and now find super interesting. My project excited me every day, as every day was different in terms of the data that was collected and what wildlife I was going to see.

I participated in other surveys during my time in Gondwana including bird point counts and vegetation surveys. The bird point counts always meant a very early morning, but the beautiful sunrises made the early starts worthwhile. Not to mention, watching the high diversity of birds dancing through the Protea and Erica plants learning each distinctive bird song. Without a doubt, you would see a new plant species every day during the vegetation surveys, counting 20 different species in quadrats, sometimes more. I could even put my own camera trap out in the vegetation plots. Waking up every day with butterflies in your stomach with excitement for the day ahead of you truly made writing my master project very special to me.

Around the data collection I had many breath-taking first-time moments too, from the starry night sky, the intense sunsets, encountering lions for the first time, finding the mythical buffalo, seeing a baby rhino to the elephant herd coming up to the vehicle with each one being as magical as the other. Even speaking to the staff, research assistants, field guides and reserve conservation mangers inspired me and motivated me to complete my masters and continue in the conservation sector. Gondwana is a very special place and certainly an experience I will hold in my heart forever.

A mission to save the scary-looking but charismatic long-spined black sea urchin

It has been months since I have returned from an expedition with Operation Wallacea and I am still living through my memories as it was still happening. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to spend my summer in Honduras looking into the aspects of slow recovery of a local keystone species, long-spined black sea urchin. The generous financial gift towards my expedition costs from the Murray foundation made an immense help to my funding the trip.

After a rather stressful journey, that took me through the US, where I unexpectedly spend two nights at the airport because my flight was cancelled. I arrived in Utila, a small but vibrant island of the coast of Honduras. Warm and friendly welcome by the staff, the sun and the ocean made me thrilled about the upcoming six weeks and put me into an expedition mode right away. In the first two weeks I was taking the reef ecology lectures and was offered to complete my PADI rescue diver course, while already diving into the ecological surveys looking for the spiny creatures, baby corals, and fish. After the reef ecology lectures, I managed something I though was impossible, I was able to identify all the hard coral species, macroalgae, fishes, and invertebrates and everything underwater started to look real and more exciting.

Me and other three girls from Princeton University together with our project leader worked on the sea urchin project. Our role was to assess biotic and abiotic factors that might have led to a slow recovery of the long spined black sea urchin. We were diving twice a day, six times a week, so we soon developed an effective way of collecting our data. Identifying past-swimming fish while laying a transect line, spotting minuscule corals, or finding well-hidden sea urchins became a second nature. We were collecting data on the demographics and population density of the urchin, its heterospecific species, coral recruit species, competitive herbivorous fish, predators, temperature, habitat structure, and benthic cover. After each dive we compared our counts and inserted data into an Excel sheet and had a video of the benthic floor to analyse.

So far, we know that the urchin is an essential herbivore in the Caribbean coral reefs and in ideal conditions it maintains the health of the reef by grazing on the overgrowing macroalgae. However, since the 1980s after a major mortality event when over 90% of the urchins disappeared from the Caribbean, the fast growing macroalgae started taking over and are now suffocating the much slower growing and more vulnerable corals. Several factors have been suggested as the reasons for the slow recovery. Starting with insufficient habitat complexity, increasing the water temperature, pollution, and compromised reproduction success by the low-density population.

The scientists from Operation Wallacea and university students have been gathering data on this topic since 2013 and even though there is a clear general understanding of the issue, more research into the specific variables is required so the knowledge can be successfully applied to helping the sea urchin recovery.

And why does it all matter? Why do we need more hard corals and less macroalagae? Hard coral cover is the marker for a healthy reef because its structural complexity creates a unique habitat for millions of other marine organisms. However, we depend on them as well, as they support fisheries, tourism, and provide coastal protection during storms, hurricanes, typhoons, and even tsunamis. Therefore, it is in our best interest to keep the coral reefs, not only in the Caribbean, thriving, which proves to be one of the greatest challenges of today marine conservation efforts.

I first learned about Operation Wallacea through a friend who had gone on an expedition with them to Honduras and had a ton of awesome things to say about her experience. As a result, I was excited when I learned that OpWall was doing a presentation on my school’s campus, so I decided to attend and learn more about their programs. Within a couple of weeks, I decided I wanted to help with surveys in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.

To get myself to Peru I spent a lot of time fundraising primarily by selling T-shirts and homemade dog biscuits as well as setting up a GoFundMe page. One of the biggest means by which I fundraised involved designing and selling T-shirts that said “We’re here for the creatures” on the back of them with various animal paw prints around the quote. “We’re here for the creatures” is a saying my coworkers and I have at the emergency veterinary clinic I work at, so I figured I could probably get some of my coworkers and animal-loving friends to buy shirts. I honestly did not expect much from the shirts but was shocked when I relatively quickly sold nearly $500 worth primarily to coworkers of mine. A handful of the shirts were also sold at my veterinary clinic’s annual Pet Fair.

My four weeks spent living in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve were a once in a lifetime experience. Most mornings I woke up at dawn and had the privilege of listening to the roar of the howler monkeys and squawks of the macaws while watching the sunrise over the river as I headed out on morning surveys. Throughout my four week stay I participated in wading bird, macaw, caiman, frog, mammal, butterfly, fishing bat, habitat, mist net, fish, and dolphin surveys.

I truly enjoyed every survey that I got to participate in while in the reserve, but my favorite was probably mist netting. I have always had an interest in birds and to get to see some of Peru’s incredible birds up close was an unforgettable experience. My group even had the luck one morning of catching three lettered aracari, and while we were doing our measurements one of our guides also came across a jaguar who was feeding on a river turtle!

Fishing was also a favorite survey of mine because you never knew what you were going to pull out of the water! One day my group made the unexpected discovery of a stingray in our net as well as a yellow-spotted river turtle! I also couldn’t believe how large and strong some of the piranhas were. On several occasions I either personally had or witnessed a piranha bite through one of our metal hooks while trying to catch them. The armored catfish were among my favorite fish to catch mainly due to their prehistoric appearance.

The transects were also interesting surveys as they allowed us to walk through and experience the rain forest while looking for mammals and game birds. On almost every transect we saw monkeys of some kind, typically Squirrel Monkeys, and on one occasion we saw the highly venomous snake, the Fer-de-lance!

Having the opportunity to explore the Amazon rainforest and assist in so many different surveys is an experience I will never forget. My time with Operation Wallacea has helped instill an already burning passion for wildlife conservation in me and I can’t wait to continue helping with wildlife conservation however I can in my future as a zoo and wildlife veterinarian.

Far from the familiar shores of Sweden or Palo Alto, California, I spent a month of my summer in the Nirwana Buton Villa in Bau-Bau, Indonesia. While there, I got my advanced (PADI) scuba license and worked with three others as a research assistant for Alejandro Usobiaga (Uso) and Samantha Sherman (Samm), both research students from James Cook University, Australia.

Uso is in his fifth year of monitoring several marine sites around Bau-Bau. Along with my dive certification, to be eligible to collect data for Uso, the other RAs and I memorized the binomial names of every coral, invertebrate, fish species in and around Southwest Sulawesi. Once we passed the identification exam, we learned the appropriate Reef Surveying Techniques (RST), such as eye-calibration for estimating fish sizes underwater. Once we were RST qualified we made two monitoring dives a day, collecting data along a 50 meter transect. Species, size and abundance were recorded on slates strapped to underwater cameras. At times, this was an overwhelming task (fish tend to move around quite a bit). During our decompression hours, we compiled and analyzed the collected data.

Samm is a research assistant for the Global Finprint project. With Samm, we learned proper Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) techniques. Six BRUVs (with a bait bag of chopped pilchards) were deployed from our boat at varying depths for about an hour. On land, each video was watched in real time: when an elasmobranch was caught on camera, or fed from the bait bag, its species and sex was identified.

The way I felt upon leaving Indonesia is difficult to describe, but I will try to do my feelings justice. First and foremost, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Several aspects of my life that just a month ago were so commonplace to me now feel like luxuries. It sounds cliché, but I really do see the world with new eyes after living so simply. When I came home to Palo Alto, I looked around my room at the arrant amount of things I have, simply because I had, at one point in my life, convinced myself that I could not live without them. But, do I really need four pairs of Converse sneakers, or a drawer filled with jewelry, when I’ve worn the same earrings for the past two years? After having lived in inner city New York for elementary school — with over half the student body “at risk” — I became aware early in my life that I had been raised in a “Palo Alto Bubble.” I thought that this bubble-realization made me exempt from its effects; yet, if that was true, why did I never realize how ridiculous it is that my neighbor next door has nine sports cars?

Though leaving the bubble was hard, it allowed me to learn from the locals of Bau-Bau that I should be grateful, not only for the things I have, but for how fortunate I am to be able to pursue my love for marine biology — what might become my life-long purpose.

I am forever thankful to have received this grant. Through Opwall, I’ve gained so much field experience, and have met and worked with so many lovely, passionate, and skilled people. I’d like to give special thanks to Mo, the site manager, her husband Iman, the diving coordinator, as well as the fundraising officer, Katie Bell, for their kindness and hard work. I would also like to thank Uso and Samm, who were so inspirational to me.

Before working for them in Bau-Bau, I was unsure of my path as a biology major. It was about halfway through a monitoring dive off Nirwana beach when I felt this insecurity fade away, and this was why: for the first time in my life, I found somewhere I belonged.

At our survey transect sites located in Kistanje, a small rural village nearby to the national park entrance, our research group, comprised of English, Portuguese, Scottish, Finnish and American uni students conducted daily surveys of birds, fish, mammals, bats, reptiles, amphibians and cave invertebrates! This project partnered amazingly with both the national park itself and BIOTA, a Croatian biodiversity initiative company based out of Zagreb.

We were fortunate enough to be working and learning under the guidance of knowledge Opwall staff and BIOTA employees for the week that we were there. The beautiful freshwater and Karst ecosystems of Dalmatia are home to an extremely diverse variety of endemic organisms, and the yearly surveying project we took part in aims to monitor and describe the biodiversity and local abundances of endemic and invasive species within the park.

For our second week in the field with Opwall, we traveled by ferry to the island of Mljet, the southernmost island in the Adriatic to work on a variety of projects that the national park is in the early stages of making into annual monitoring efforts. Here Opwall partners with Mljet and the Croatian non-profit, non-governmental organization, Marine Explorers Society 20.000 Leagues. Working alongside staff scientists and divemasters on Mljet, we conducted scientific scuba diving surveys of Posidonia oceanica, a threatened seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean that forms a critical habitat for over a third of marine life found in the sea. We used transect and quadrat surveying methods to monitor and record the health of the seagrass, as well as sea urchin species populations.

We built Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS) in the hopes of recording populations of larger pelagic marine life, as well as conducted marine litter monitoring on a beach known as “plastic beach” on the islands. Many conservation issues facing Mljet Island are related top the foreign plastic being washed ashore from other countries bordering the Adriatic, choking marine life and damaging fragile marine and freshwater ecosystems found on the island.

This summer, from 14 July to 10 August 2019, I participated in an expedition that I did not expect to make as much of an impact on my life as it actually did. This was Operation Wallacea’s Expedition 5 to Indonesia, comprising two weeks of camping in the tropical rainforest of Buton Island, and two weeks of swimming along the coral reefs of Hoga Island in the Wakatobi National Park. Being a Malaysian, I have grown up appreciating the beauty of rainforests, and in my lifetime have also watched their rapid decline, which is the main reason for my interest in tropical rainforest ecology and conservation. However, there is only so much one can gain from attending lectures and writing essays. I stumbled across this expedition by chance, and it was the golden opportunity not only to gain hands-on experience and learn skills in scientific field studies of this environment, but also to meet with experts in the field and explore the natural environment of a different tropical country.

Undeniably, participating on this expedition was expensive. I knew fundraising would be difficult, considering how packed my university life is, so I decided to try to raise at least half the funds and my parents were happy to cover the rest. I used resources such as Easyfundraising and GoFundMe to try to raise money online, using a Facebook page I created for my expedition to share the news. Despite the support from my friends and family in the UK on Easyfundraising, the donations fell short of the minimum amount to actually be awarded them. GoFundMe was comparably more successful, since my father shared it with his group of nature-lover friends, who gave generous contributions. The bulk of the funds were raised by playing to my own strengths, and dedicating my time to searching for and applying for grants. After asking a fair number of people for possible grants, I finally found two that I was eligible for: the Keble Association Study Grant from my college and the Alfred Russel Wallace Grant for Outstanding Field Ecologists, which in total got me £1500. Overall, I managed to raise a total of £1706.76. With this and my parents’ contribution, I had enough to comfortably prepare for my expedition.

Four weeks sounds like a long time to be out in the wilderness, until you actually go out there and do it. Getting to the rainforest site was the most challenging and character-building part. Not only was I travelling with people I had just met, I also had no experience in long-distance trekking over slippery mud and steep uneven terrain whilst laden with heavy backpack, making the first trek the most difficult, tiring, yet memorable one. I arrived last at camp, and despite my exhaustion I felt my self-confidence growing with that achievement.

The work in the forest was quite tough, as each survey required trekking out at least some distance along one of the transects. What that meant was my trekking ability and agility improved throughout my stay to the point I was able to keep up a good rapid pace whilst avoiding falling into mud, or worse, spiky rattan. When I managed to complete Transect 5, deemed the most difficult of the lot, I was exceptionally proud of myself. I participated in as many different surveys as I could, including bird-call counts, habitat assessment, bat mist-netting, butterfly capture and megafauna detection. All of these required different knowledge and skills, which the scientists taught us patiently. After a few surveys I was able to recognise and correctly identify some bird calls, look for and identify megafauna footprints, set up mist-nets and measure bats, efficiently work in a team to set up 50m by 50m quadrats and measure various aspects of the vegetation and topography within it. It was hard work but a lot of fun, and it helped me bond well with the other participants and scientists. Being able to speak Malay, which is very similar to the Indonesian language, meant that I was very popular amongst the local staff and scientists, making my social experience so much more interesting and enjoyable.

The top highlight of the jungle was the opportunity to climb 45m into the canopy of a massive strangler fig and watching the first stages of sunset whilst sitting on a large branch above the forest. I never thought I would appreciate being at such a height, and the beauty and joy I felt being up there made the extra cost worth it.  An evening of bat surveying being cut short by an encounter with a disturbed anoa is a close second. This was quite a terrifying experience, but in hindsight one of the best as it was such a rare encounter, and it also formed the bond between myself and the best field partner I have ever met.

The great thing about this expedition is that it was an opportunity to experience studying both terrestrial and marine tropical ecology in the field, the latter of which I have very little exposure to in university. I found my time on Hoga Island a lot more structured, regular and busier compared to the forest, the first week comprising of lectures and practical lessons on studying the benthic community of the reefs, and the second spending most of the time assigned to a scientist, helping gather data for his research. I was meant to dive for this trip, however due to a medical concern I was limited to snorkelling. While disappointing at first, I quickly began to appreciate the challenge of conducting reef survey techniques while snorkelling, which turned out to be satisfyingly difficult. We learnt several types of survey techniques, including belt and line transects, and it took some skill to lay down the transect line in a way that did not damage the benthos, was flat, and followed the reef contour. Duck-diving was essential for this, and learning to duck-dive and maintain that depth while snorkelling took a few days to master. Once I did, I discovered a whole new freedom to marine study and exploration unlimited by an air tank. Pairing that skill with all the new knowledge I gained from the lectures on marine identification and ecology, I began to appreciate working in the shallow reef flats, experiencing an environment so vibrant in colour and diversity that I would not have had known if I were diving.

The week spent with the scientist involved studying sponges and surveying seagrass communities. The sponge study was conducted underwater in the shallows near the jetty. Using opaque and transparent plastic bags, we looked at how light availability may change the oxygen concentration of the surrounding seawater to give indication of sponge symbiosis with photosynthetic algae. By taking turns within the group, I had the opportunity to help both underwater and on land. Underwater work involved relaying materials between land and the scientist, while land work involved measuring the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration in seawater samples with a DO meter. Sponge samples were also taken ashore, dried in an oven and cleaned of debris to measure the dry weight, which turned out to be rather a tedious but satisfying task. Seagrass surveys took up most of the week, where in pairs we laid 50m transects across seagrass beds near the shore, and, using a 50cm by 50cm quadrat, pre-learned knowledge of seagrass ID and a measuring tape, recorded species types, estimated ground cover, estimated algal cover, and seagrass length at the corners of the quadrat and at the centre. This particular survey required good communication and teamwork to ensure that time was used efficiently and the data gathered was as accurate as possible. Duck-diving was a valuable skill to get close observations of the seagrass, and I was very happy to keep practicing it.

This expedition was such an amazing and educational experience that has helped me to both realise my own potential and develop a stronger determination to pursue tropical conservation as a career. I was a bit disappointed I did not get to try some new marine survey techniques such as 3D mapping and stereo-video surveys, but it was because we arrived at the end of the season, and people were already finished with the practical parts of their projects. Overall, with the experience I have gained through this expedition, be it the scientific study techniques, the skills from hiking through extreme terrain and snorkelling in the coral reefs, or the so many influential and inspirational people I had met, I am sure I will be able to apply for more projects, expeditions or internships in this field to progress further. I have plans to, at some point, use what I have learnt to arrange my own personal project assessing Odonata biodiversity and ecology in tropical habitats, because it is an area I am very interested in and has little literary coverage. Coming out from this I feel more enthusiastic about studying more on conservation and biology in general, and coming home to the news of the Amazon rain forest going up in flames, I am even more determined to try hard to protect these natural habitats.

A few months ago I was lucky enough to follow in the footsteps of Alfred Russel Wallace on an expedition to South East Sulawesi in Indonesia in order to undertake self driven research for my dissertation with the help and support of Opwall, its academics and its research station.

My expedition was self funded via grants awarded form Opwall & Premier Oil, a part time job lifeguarding and coaching swimming lessons at a council run sports complex, as well as private donations. Being able to self fund has provided me with insights into the difficulties faced in order to undertake scientific work, but it has also presented me with a sense of personal achievement and success as well as presenting me with the exceptional opportunity of being able to present my work in an institution renowned for scientific hero’s and exploratory greats.

Working in the field on the isolated Wakatobi island of Hoga, a long way from modern day scientific facilities, literature and internet connections, meant I had to adapt and improvise in order to organise, collect, collate and interpret the required data for my research project. Living and working on this idyllic coral island surrounded by a spectacular reef system was a unique and invigorating experience. It was also a huge learning curve for me and it has taught me to manage with, and appreciate, some of the more basic aspects of day to day living; as well as the difficulties of working in the field in such an isolated setting. All in all, the expedition has taught me how to adapt and be resilient to my surroundings, especially when things went wrong, which will undoubtedly be a fundamental skill to have into the future.

My time on Hoga was spent diving to collect data from transects and water samples, as well as lab work analysis. This gave me the freedom to really experience the reef’s unique ecosystem from all aspects with its colourful diversity, its vibrant activity, and its symbiotic life forms all so important for our ocean’s health, our climate control/compensator, and our planets well being.  On a personal level, being given the opportunity to immerse myself in this unique environment has allowed me to meet people from all different backgrounds and learn from their specialities and experiences. As a geography student, the experience has allowed me to explore a new area and combine my geographical way of thinking to the more biological thinking among the researchers on Hoga. Finally, a highlight of the trip for me was having control of my own project for the first time. I found this experience invaluable as it taught me how to construct and then follow through with and improve my plans as I went along. It made me see science in a whole different way and I really felt like I made a personal connection with my project.

During this time I also experienced the human effects of an earthquake and the need to evacuate the island to higher ground due to tsunami risk. This insight has given me a glimpse into the vulnerability and susceptibilities of day-to-day life for the environment and the communities living in this tectonically active region.

My experiences in Sulawesi have given me great respect for the local communities who have had to adapt in order to survive and maintain their identity despite the adverse impacts of climatic and industrial changes looming over them. The local Indonesians I have met and worked with are some of the nicest, and most helpful people I have encountered; who on many occasions helped guide my research with their local knowledge and practical skills. I hope my research plays some small part in helping these vital guardians of their native ecosystem and environment.

My dissertation looks at the scientific implications of environmental stresses on coral reef health. This research is preliminary in finding where the intricate relationships lie between certain environmental parameters and coral reef health across different taxonomic groups and depths. A presentation of my research project with photographs illustrating my experiences will be delivered when I visit the Royal Geographic Society in November.

Undertaking this research expedition has widened my horizons beyond the knowledge and expectations of factual education and study, and has given me a participatory experience that is already affecting and shaping my future opportunities. The work of scientists is to explore, to record, to map, to problem solve and to educate, and I feel so lucky to have been able to develop my knowledge and research with this hands on experience. The experience has greatly increased my confidence to interact and work with academics aswell as helping me to greater understand the practicalities of the working environment while increasing my cultural awareness and having a great deal of fun. My next step will be consolidating my studies with an MSc in an environmental discipline, and my great hope for my future is to be part of a scientific movement whether academic, governmental or in industry that promotes and underpins changes in order to protect our environment and ecosystems while still allowing indigenous peoples to benefit, prosper and develop.

For all the help and support I have received from Opwall and Premier Oil, I would like to say a heartfelt big Thank You for making this adventure, this lifetime experience, and this research possible.

As a very enthusiastic first year marine biology student, I quickly realised that I should make the most of my summers before graduating. I wanted to gain experience and explore what aspect of the field I might want to pursue my career in. So, when I discovered that Operation Wallacea offered expeditions diving and monitoring tropical reefs in the Coral Triangle, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

I was very anxious about the cost. Four previous years of fundraising as an outdoor leader had left a certain sponsorship fatigue among those around me. I knew I had to find another way. I was originally quite hesitant to apply for the Alfred Russel Wallace grant; it was something I had never done before! Luckily my friends and family had more confidence in me than I did, and their encouragements convinced me to put myself forward. My initial reaction on hearing that my application had been successful, was to jump around my room with excitement and call everyone I could think of who had supported me. The rest of the funds I needed were made up of a combination of savings I had kept for university opportunities and working at a bar during the holidays. The generous grant took away a huge amount of pressure as I was preparing for my expedition: I am so grateful for that.

I quickly became very excited as I booked my flight, then checked off my kit list and packed my bags. Before I knew it I was stepping onto my first train and starting one of the most incredible trips of my life. Just like almost everyone else who takes part in these expeditions, I find it very difficult to pick out just a few highlights, every day was more stimulating and wonderful than the last! However, I have managed to think of a selection of high points which I hope encapsulate the amazing time I had.

The sense of accomplishment I felt when finally arriving in Makassar motivated me even more for the two weeks ahead. If I could travel to the other side of the world on my own, I could take on any challenge! The first one of those challenges also turned out to be one of my favourite aspects of the expedition. In the space of a week the other research assistants and I had to learn the names of around 120 different species or groups of fish, coral and invertebrates in order to pass our reef survey techniques course. It was so exciting to be able to identify organisms on our dives which we had just learned about a couple of hours earlier! (It also didn’t hurt that I was able to revise for the exam sitting by the water, with a view of the sunset and a plate homemade pancakes to keep me going.) Being immersed in such a beautiful, diverse and rich ecosystem only increased my appreciation for the marine world. Being able to share that wonder with other students, locals and academics gives me hope that we can work together to understand and conserve it better.

Another highlight for me was being able to contribute to the research being carried out from the Bau Bau marine site. The variety of techniques used to collect data amazed me. I really enjoyed playing my small role as a research assistant in this large effort to survey the reefs of the Coral Triangle. Learning how to record data in these new ways was one of the most useful skills I developed during my time in Indonesia. Deploying BRUVS (Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems), writing on slates underwater, filming coral transects – these are all opportunities I wouldn’t have had through my degree alone, and they are techniques I will hopefully be able to use again in the future.

Diving was also a major part of my expedition and was the skill area where I made the most progress. Having only just obtained my BSAC Ocean Diver qualification a couple of weeks before my departure, I was worried that I wouldn’t have a good enough level to carry out research underwater. Luckily, diving twice a day in stunningly beautiful tropical waters soon changed that. In the space of a week I was confidently carrying out transects alongside my peers. I realised that diving scientifically is a very different experience to recreational diving. It is something I definitely hope to pursue further, either through volunteering or in my future career.

I have loved learning and working in the marine environment for a long time and being outdoors in general for even longer. My experience with Operation Wallacea has opened my eyes to the wide range of opportunities available for those marine biologists who feel more at home in nature than in a lab or at a desk. If the occasional hydroid sting or being up to my elbows mushing fish guts for bait is the price for becoming a field biologist, then it is one I will happily pay. I’m no longer simply working for my degree – I now know where I’m heading afterwards.

Wow … what a summer that was! I have had the privilege of spending two amazing months on an Operation Wallacea expedition in the coral triangle on a tiny island called Hoga in Indonesia. The main reason for embarking upon this expedition was to collect the data for my MSc research project which focused on investigating how the structure and spatial distribution of coral bommies in a coral reef patch impact upon fish and invertebrate diversity.

I recognised that this project had the potential to both show the conservation value of coral patch reefs and contribute recommendations for the structure and spatial distribution of future artificial reefs to increase their effectiveness. Therefore, I expected my project to require a lot of time, effort and planning however before I booked my flights, I already had a lot of work to do as I needed to fundraise approximately £5500 to be able to take part in this expedition. I managed to successfully fully fundraise the entirety of my expedition via grants, promoting Operation Wallacea, setting up an easyfundraising.co.uk page and by organising small-scale fundraising activities such as raffles. I was lucky enough to be awarded three grants and a scholarship award which included the significant financial contribution of the Alfred Russel Wallace Award for Outstanding Field Ecologists funded by Premier Oil.

I am tremendously appreciative to all friends, family, organisations and strangers who supported me throughout my fundraising efforts as now that I am back in the UK I can confidently say that though the main reason why I went to Hoga with Operation Wallacea was to collect research data, I ended up leaving Hoga with so much more.

I grew as a conservation biologist by learning new field data collection skills whilst collecting the data for my research project. I spent approximately 6 hours a day in-water utilising 3D modelling techniques and conducting habitat assessment scores and rugosity measurements alongside fish, invertebrate and coral ID surveys. Following that I spent approximately 8 hours a day extracting and processing data and completing the electronic 3D models. In total I surveyed over 200 coral bommies and identified 8719 fish and 4108 invertebrates which lead to my dataset being much larger than originally anticipated. The size of my dataset means that I feel more confident in the results of my findings and as I result, I am aiming to get them published in a scientific journal in the future to expand the current scientific understanding of the value of coral patch reefs and to contribute recommendations for the structure and spatial distribution of future artificial reefs.

On the day after my arrival on Hoga I started a week-long Reef Survey Techniques course, where I attended a series of enthusiastically delivered marine ecology and diving skill lectures which expended my marine-related knowledge. Part of this course included snorkelling within a nearby mangrove forest which absolutely amazed me as this was the first time that I have ever seen a mangrove ecosystem. During this course I also undertook training in scientific diving where I practised and built upon skills such as transect laying, belt transects, and species identification and I put these skills into practice by assisting with any scientific research dive that I could be a part of. Additionally, my communication skills were improved through delivering a presentation on my project rationale and research to approximately 50 people (of staff, volunteers and locals). This presentation was a massive personal achievement and I received some great questions and many compliments from the audience. The opportunity to give this presentation has given me so much more confidence in public speaking.

Furthermore, this expedition has gifted me with worldwide friendships. Though I was a long way from home (more than 8,770 miles to be precise) as soon as I stepped off the boat onto Hoga I knew that I had nothing to worry about. Everyone from site staff, to research students, to volunteers to local staff were so welcoming, loving and happy to share their culture with me. I soon settled into my beautiful traditional mandi-hut and life on Hoga. In Hoga I think that it’s safe to say that I found my home-away-from-home. I will always treasure the memories of fun, laughter and the feeling of awe when I saw both the marine and terrestrial animals of Hoga. However one particular highlight of this unique experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life and has already had an impact on my outlook of the world is when I had the opportunity to visit Sampela. Sampela is home to the Bajo people who are more commonly known as ‘sea gypsies’. The best way that I can describe the structure of Sampela is to imagine a floating island where are wooden houses and pathways are on stilts above the ocean.

Upon arriving to Sampela I was met by an extremely excited group of local children who, alongside two local staff members, shared their home with me and showed me around Sampela. Though I could not speak their language and they could not speak mine, Jasmina and Ratu who must have been around 6 years of age stayed with me during my time on Sampela. They loved dancing and posing for ‘selfies’ (which they asked for) in between guiding me over the sturdier of walkways (for which I will be ever so thankful as I would have definitely fallen into the ocean otherwise) of Sampela. From what I could tell, financially the Bajo people have so little (or at least compared to Western countries) yet they were so rich in love and happiness. Through the locals of Hoga of Sampela sharing their culture and ‘way-of-life’ with me, my eyes have been opened and I have adopted their outlook of appreciating what I have rather than wanting more.

This expedition has greatly influenced my life in a wide range of ways including progressing as a conservation biologist, developing new and advancing current skills, forming worldwide friendships and through enabling me to achieve a distinction classification for my MSc. My life has become so much richer with the many friends (both volunteers and local staff) that I now have.

This summer, I had the distinct privilege to take part in Opwall’s two-week marine field research programme in the Wakatobi National Park, Indonesia.

To begin with, getting there proved to be quite the adventure. Making the first of four flights from metropolitan Singapore to Jakarta proved routine enough, but flying from the sleek, brightly-lit Indonesian capital to a substantially calmer Makassar was my first introduction to Sulawesi and it’s adjoining islands, a quieter, calmer part of the world. We then made our way on a further two flights (including one in a propeller-driven plane!) until we arrived in Wangi-wangi Island at an airfield with an empty building and pristine forest all around. The boat ride was yet another novel adventure, as we sat alongside a dozen unfazed Indonesians wondering why these tourists were so excited and what was for them, a daily commute accompanied by flying fish and spotless tropical islands in lieu of honking cars and traffic lights.

Arriving on Hoga, I realized soon enough that Opwall had created an outpost of professional scientific training hiding amidst the vegetation – my first impressions of the ‘islanders’ reminded me of a lab  – young students sat hunched over their data-sets and computers in groups excitedly discussing their findings, preparing their equipment. Only this time in lieu of labcoats and burettes, these students were clad in khaki tropical garb, tanned bronze and looking over the menacing 15kg diving sets with calm deliberation. I was soon introduced to Pippa (our Camp Manager and stand-in for all authority), then Rowan (Dive Operations Manager) and finally Michael (Reef Survey lecturer). All of them carried a certain assuredness amidst their light-hearted, comprehensive briefs and I immediately felt safe despite being far away from home and all its modern comforts. The local staff were also exceedingly friendly; most mornings would see us trodding through the Kampong waving good morning to our local neighbours young and old alike – extra points and smiles if you recognized who was ‘Ibu’ (term of respect for an older woman) and ‘Kak’ (roughly translated as older sister) and greeted them in order of local practice – elders first!

As a Naval Diver Officer, my previous experiences diving had largely been highly technical experiences in less-aesthetic settings as dictated by operational requirements. Therefore, I came into the marine programme excited to learn more about diving in support of a meaningful cause. Nothing, however, quite prepared me fully for the breathtaking sight of the Wakatobi’s coral reefs in full bloom. I clearly remember my first dive by the unassumingly named ‘Buoy 1’ – our Opwall teams from years before had set up a simple platform made of bamboo poles for novice divers to practice perfect buoyancy on. Descending from our dive boat, we quickly realized that the simple ‘platform’ from the dive brief lay amidst a thick, luscious coral reef teeming with life. Corals of every shape, form of colour provided the hundreds of fish that soon surrounded us with a comforting backdrop to which they could retire after curious peeks at the giant creatures that had settled on the platform to practice balancing on one finger, swimming through hoops, and writing on boards with only one hand. In a way, it was an ironic reversal of roles from all those years I had spent in aquariums back home.

Every subsequent dive proved equally challenging and eye-opening in its own way off Hoga; there were the transect dives of the Reef Survey Techniques Course, where we were treated to a rigorous daily regime of lectures and dive practicals in the morning and afternoon before an evening taxonomic identification session. As someone with zero background in marine biology (or science of any sort, for that matter), I found these sessions fully invigorating and a refreshing test of my wits and ability to absorb new knowledge fast! Laying transects were far from a simple mechanical task – as marine research divers in training, we were now also expected to identify the various types of coral, fish, Mollusca and sponges we encountered along the carefully-laid transect line. Transect surveys were especially hard work as they sometimes required acrobatic maneuvers through the undulating texture of coral reefs, requiring us to carefully tug the transect measuring tape through rocks and around crevices all while looking out for the odd moray eel or crustacean that might smack at your arm after you startle one another. But these were not simply technical tasks; as marine research divers, we were expected to also survey abundance by species and genus, even taking time to wade away from the reef to allow the fish to ‘settle back’ to their homes and neighbourhoods.

There was also no shortage of interesting creatures on land, either! Indonesian PhD student (also war journalist, filmmaker, photographer and businessman) Ramadian Bakhtiar was just one of many strikingly unique individuals that found themselves ashore at Hoga. I got the chance to work up close with Rama, helping him conduct experiments underwater on sponges and survey seagrass diversity in the shallows off Hoga. The other staff and students on Hoga came from all over the world – American, Irish, Malaysian and even Swiss students came together every breakfast united by a common experience.

Evenings capped off each day’s excitement with the ‘complete experience’ of island life – there were the weekly social nights where we could celebrate the week’s work with a well-deserved break (replete with karaoke music and a Bintang), and there were also enriching presentations on marine biology work by some exceptionally gifted students sharing about their summer’s work. Hoga’s remoteness also lent for some dazzling scenes out by the beach – bioluminescent sparkles in the water, and up above you could see a thousand stars and the Milky Way as clear as in the movies… Much of Hoga was indescribably magnificent and made you realise exactly how beautiful nature can be when we do our best to protect it.

My experience in Indonesia this summer has been everything I hoped for and more. I am very grateful to the Wallacea Trust and Premium Oil for their support through this award and highly recommend this experience for you if nature, science and diving is your thing! Beyond the aesthetic, this experience has also shown me what good can be done for local environments and communities when sustained passion, genuine understanding and informed methodologies are put into practice. Protecting the environment has real, visceral consequences for the sustainability of local ways of life, and the aesthetic pleasure we witness when diving also has intangible effects on the way we perceive the arduous work we undertake. While I leave Hoga and Opwall’s site with fond memories, I am also keenly aware none of this has been achieved by chance. In my future career as a leader of teams in my Navy and country, I hope that these same lessons can continue to inform the way I lead my teammates to create lasting ecosystems of professionalism, passion and productive effort that remembers always to anchor progress in the world around us that sustains it.