201 - SCCS · 2019-08-29 · Ahmad Ardiansyah (Little Fireface Project, Java) Ahmad regards the...

SCCS Internship Programme

2019

Internship Programme 2019

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Overview

The Student Conference in Conservation Science (SCCS) is building the capacity of young scientists

across the world. SCCS offers a dynamic and interactive programme of talks, workshops and poster

sessions, and enables students to network with a wide variety of disciplines and organisations in the

Cambridge area (including universities, government and NGOs). In addition to the Cambridge

conference, there are now sister conferences in New York, Brisbane, Bangalore, Beijing and Hungary.

The Miriam Rothschild Travel Bursary Programme enabled 17 students from developing countries to

participate in this year's SCCS, to attend a short training course and to take up an internship at a

UK conservation organisation. Known as the Internship Programme, this scheme has

become a significant component of the SCCS series and is clearly fulfilling an important role by

giving young conservation scientists new skills, significantly boosting their careers in the field of

conservation.

"The internship exposed me to so much within a short space of time, knowledge which I am already sharing with colleagues back home in Nigeria" (Israel Adedeji Bolade, AP Leventis Ornithological Research Unit)

SCCS short courses in 2019

We ran three short courses for 17 interns and 15 holders of bursaries; taking place before the

conference and lasting 2–3 days, the courses were “Getting started in R for analysis of

conservation science data”; “Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in conservation

science”; and “A practical introduction to social survey design for conservation science”.

All three short courses received extremely positive feedback. As well as being a valuable addition to

the SCCS experience, the interns are able to apply the skills they gained from the courses during their

internships. Participants were invited to provide anonymous feedback:

“The course was very helpful. I did more with GIS in two days than I have ever accomplished.”

“I really appreciated all three course facilitators… They are excellent in their fields/areas of expertise and very interesting and interacting.”

“I really like the idea of each student working at our own speed, and the book (made by the professor) was excellent.”


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Internship placements in 2019

The Internship Programme gives young conservationists the opportunity to learn new skills through

short courses and month-long placements, where they can work alongside UK experts gaining

support, advice and contacts that are useful for their current work and future plans. The internship

placements are selected from a large number of applications with good evidence of contact and

joint planning between prospective intern and UK host being an important selection criterion.

The 2019 interns worked on a broad range of topics and approaches which included researching

past and future demographic trends of the endangered dhole; investigating the possible impacts of

proposed major road construction on mammals in Nepal and the management of interaction between

humans and sloth bears in an urbanised landscape. The majority of interns drafted papers during the

month they spent in the UK and, almost without exception, the interns commented on the new

contacts and future collaborators they met. To this end, the input of the hosts was outstanding,

not just as trainers and mentors, but also in providing interns with exceptional

opportunities to give talks, attend meetings and visit other organisations. Many also commented on

the opportunity to learn how to use new data analysis tools which they felt would greatly enhance

their research back at home.

It is clear that the interns benefit enormously from this programme and that they continue to apply

their new skills once back in their home countries. There is also a multiplier effect, as interns share

their new knowledge with others after they return.

All interns write a report about their activities at the end of the internship period. These are available

from the SCCS office on request.

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All 2019 SCCS interns receive Fauna and Flora International membership for one year, including an

online subscription to Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation. In addition, the interns who

produced the three best reports receive Fauna and Flora International membership for two years,

with an online subscription to Oryx; they also each win £75 worth of books from Cambridge

University Press. Details of the prize winners can be found on page 14.


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Internship holders 2019

Ahmad Ardiansyah (Little Fireface Project, Java)

Ahmad regards the internship as the most life-changing experience that’s ever happened in his conservation career to date and comments that his analytical and writing skills have greatly improved, particularly in using Microsoft Excel and R software to create graphs and tables to highlight the most important findings of his research.

TOPIC: Analysing a long-term wildlife trade database from Javan bird markets with a view to presenting relevant information to fellow conservationists and policy makers

HOST: Professor Vincent Nijman (Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group, Oxford Brookes University)

Neha Awasthi (Wildlife institute of India)

TOPIC: To model spatial ungulate distribution and co-occurrence pattern using Species Distribution Modelling to understand the effect of environment, predator and prey distribution

HOST: Dr. Regan Early (University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall)

Tropical forest in India sustains species-rich and abundant ungulate assemblages, and there is a lack of recent research on mechanisms of coexistence between different species in landscapes under anthropogenic pressures. Neha's PhD aims to fill this gap by studying coexistence between sympatric ungulates and shed further insight on how different ungulate species partition resources. During her internship, she learnt to analyse a new modelling technique, Joint Species Distribution Modelling, which will prove extremely useful in her research.


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Israel Adedeji Bolade (AP Leventis Ornithological Research Institute)

Deji reports that the internship improved his understanding of the species and systems he studies and added a new dimension to his career development, through the development of a PhD proposal. It also equipped him with the invaluable skill of spatial analysis, expanding his abilities in R, and data management. He is looking forward to sharing his new-found knowledge with his colleagues back home in Nigeria.

TOPIC: To learn the use of spatial analysis to study the associations between environmental factors and the occurrence and abundance of Palearctic migrants, using the preliminary monitoring data that I have collected on pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in Nigeria as a central case study.

HOST: Dr Rob Thomas (School of Biosciences, Cardiff University)

Lucila Castro (Institute of Animal Diversity and Ecology, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina)Lucila reports being made to feel very welcome at ZSL, being offered the opportunity to be involved in all of the activities at the institution. She was able to learn to use a new data analysis tool, present her work to other conservation scientists and receive valuable feedback enabling her to consider her thesis with a new approach.

TOPIC: To learn about occupancy analysis using camera trap data

HOST: Dr Marcus Rowcliffe (Institute of Zoology, London)


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Viviane Dib da Silva (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Viviane's initial goal was to evaluate the impacts of large scale restoration scenarios on Brazilian Atlantic Forest water balance and quality using the ‘WaterWorld’ computer program - a policy support system developed by her host Dr. Mark Mulligan and his team. However, instead of analysing the entire biome, she decided to focus on the Paraíba do Sul river Basin, which is one of the most significant river basins in Brazil in terms of urban water supply. The new goal was to identify priority areas to be restored within the basin, giving consideration to the improvement of water quality.

"WaterWorld is a very useful and sophisticated tool. and some steps would be very difficult to accomplish without the help of the developers. Working directly with Dr. Mulligan and Dr. Soesbergen was crucial to improve my ability to use the tool. "

TOPIC: Modelling forest restoration and water quality improvement

HOST: Dr Mark Mulligan (King’s College, London)

Sahr Patrick Dauda (Gola Rainforest National Park, Sierra Leone)

TOPIC: To learn the use of advanced statistical techniques to investigate the influence of habitat management on forest-dependent bird species in and around the Gola Rainforest National Park

HOST: Dr. Fiona Sanderson (RSPB, Sandy)

Patrick reports that the internship has given him new insight and the motivation to take on some future conservation challenges and also how to address them in Sierra Leone and the Upper Guinea Forest eco-region as a whole. He has also developed a blog post for publication on the RSPB CFCS site entitled‘’ The impact of conservation science on an African researcher’’ and it includes his work in GRNP and the opportunities offered by SCCS.


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Sunny Deori (Wildlife Institute of India)

Sunny is investigating the decline of Ganges dolphins in the Kulsi river in Assam where there is increasing competition between humans and dolphins for space and resources. As a part of her Doctoral thesis, she has developed three sets of questionnaires with which to interview three major community stakeholders - fishers, sand-miners and the river bank cultivators. By her own admission, analysing socio-economic data was always a job Sunny put off for later but with help from her host Dr. Samuel Turvey she has been able to develop the skills to carry out statistical analysis on her interview data.

TOPIC: Analysis of Socio-economic data of community stakeholders and to develop a manuscript on Impact of Ganges dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) population status due to changing livelihood sources of the communities of Kulsi River, Assam

HOST: Dr Samuel Turvey (Institute of Zoology, London)

Gopal Khanal (Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal)

TOPIC: Analysing camera trapping data to estimate snow leopard population in Nepal

HOST: Professor David Borchers (University of St Andrews)

Gopal achieved his main objective of the internship, which was to analyse the camera trapping data, and now has robust population estimates of snow leopards for the Shey Phoksundo National Park, Dolpa, Nepal, where he works as an assistant park manager. This data will act as baseline information for future monitoring of the population status of the species in this location.


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Prakash Mardaraj Harichandan (Amity Institute of Forestry & Wildlife, Amity University, Noida, India)Quantifying the behaviour of Sloth bears in a human-dominated landscape presents significant challenges. Professor Mark Fellowes and his team were able to help Prakash detect errors in his past research studies and help him to develop his skills to make his future research more appropriate.

"The internship has sharpened my data collecting and analysing capability and strengthened my abilities in conservation practices."

TOPIC: Managing Human Sloth bear interaction in an urbanised landscape, Eastern India

HOST: Professor Mark Fellowes (University of Reading)

Chagsaldulam Odonjavkhlan(Snow Leopard Foundation Conservation, Mongolia)

Chagsaa conducted a systematic literature review to assess the spatial variation in population density of three main prey species of snow leopards: ibex, argali and blue sheep. Linear regression models were fitted to assess the influence of different variables. Overall, the review showed that the density estimates of main prey species of snow leopard were determined by a suite of ecological, anthropogenic and management variables. In addition to helping her improve her understanding of the process involved in conducting literature review, Chagsaa welcomed the chance to improve her English.

"The knowledge I gained from the internship will help me to assist the Snow Leopard Foundation in Mongolia to standardise the survey protocol for density estimation of prey species of snow leopards -blue sheep, ibex and argali. "

TOPIC: Current knowledge of estimated density of main prey species of snow leopard in Asia

HOST: Professor Tim Coulson (University of Oxford)


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Yasmirelda Richard (University of Antananarivo, Madagascar)

TOPIC: To determine the proportion of globally threatened amphibians which occur in existing protected areas (either regionally or globally) and identify those areas which should be protected to maximise coverage of unrepresented species

HOST: Dr Jeff Dawson (Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust)

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The main focus of Yasmi's research is the species of frogs which are dependent on Pandanus trees in the National Park of Ranomafana, Madagascar, which are harvested to create roofs, huts and to weave baskets and hats. These threatened amphibians are not well studied and Dr. Jeff Dawson arranged for Yasmi to collaborate on a mapping project with the amphibian specialists at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. She learnt to use QGIS and conduct analysis on R for the Maps creation and the analysis of proportions of protected and unprotected species in different areas in Madagascar. These skills will help her in her aim to help influence decision making in the protection of amphibians in Madagascar.

Ryan Rodrigues (National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India)

TOPIC: Past and future demographic trends of the endangered dhole

HOST: Prof. Michael Bruford (School of Biosciences, Cardiff University)

Dholes have been heavily persecuted during the last 200 years but the precise demographic trajectory of the species is unknown. During his internship, Ryan was taught to use two programs - SNeP and MSMC - to model recent effective population size changes. Modelling future demographic trends along with the genetic diversity for current dhole populations will provide a comprehensive method for exploring whether extant dhole populations are sustainable in the long term.


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HS Sathya Chandra Sagar (Wildlife Conservation Action team, Chikamagaluru, India)

"Along with the manuscript that we are planning to publish, the results from this study will give us essential information on managing Harapan rainforest (Sumatra) and hopefully other landscapes facing similar issues. I could then potentially use my close association with the management of Harapan rainforest, to implement effective measures."

- TOPIC: To understand the extent of the impact of anthropogenic edge effect in a fragmented landscape that is under the pressure of hunting and/or trapping of wildlife and to compare this with various environmental edge effects, such as fire, forest disturbance, and tree mortality

HOST: Dr David Edwards (Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield)

Andressa Barbara Scabin (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil)

An important objective of the internship for Andressa was to establish a strong collaboration with Professor Carlos Peres and his research team, as they have been working in ecology and conservation research at the same study region for more than 20 years. By working with them on her databases , she considers that she is now able to conduct the required statistical analysis to answer important research questions for her PhD thesis.

TOPIC: To consolidate and analyse two databases – fauna survey by camera trapping and plants traits based on forest inventory – and to then use this database to start a statistical analysis to test the defaunation hunting induced effects on verterbrate community and forest dynamics

HOST: Professor Carlos Peres (University of East Anglia)

(


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Bibek Raj Shrestha (Wildlife Conservation Nepal)

The government of Nepal is planning to build road and railways that will cross the habitat of many endangered species within and outside of protected areas. Road ecology is a poorly studied topic in Nepal; there are extensive challenges in data acquisition and sharing, as well as the previous studies being bound in hard copies which make it difficult to extract them for the use of research. In absence of similar studies highlighting the impact of proposed roads, it is often hard to push the agenda of the detrimental effects of roads with the policy makers and development planners. Bibek is seeking to understand how proposed road development is likely to affect biodiversity and to quantify the impact.

Topic: To learn techniques to

Topic: Understanding the possible impacts of the proposed Postal Highway on mammals of Nepal

Host: Dr James Gilroy (University of East Anglia)

Aline Tavares Santos (Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Brazil)

Aline used the internship period to collect and analyse a temporal series of data on primate trade via Brazilian social media, comparing the legal and illegal trade in the recorded primate species in Brazil with the aim of writing a high-impact paper to demonstrate the relevance of the internet in supporting the illegal wildlife trade in Brazil and the resulting need for improved regulations and law enforcement for this type of commerce. Brazilian laws prohibit the trade in physical markets but they do not cover online trading or cyber crimes involving wildlife.

“I will certainly bring fresh ideas to Brazil to share with my colleagues. During the internship period, I was able to meet several researchers, exchange ideas and open doors to future partnerships. I was able to renew my energies and my inspiration to continue following my career as a researcher.”

TOPIC: Collect and analyse data from the primates online trade in Brazil

HOST: Dr Magdalena Svensson (Oxford Brookes University)


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Fernanda Tubenchlak (International Institute for Sustainability)

The aim of Fernanda’s internship was to explore how conservation projects can contribute to achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), more specifically in the Brazilian context. The starting point for her study was the project “Unusual Suspects: what contributions can biodiversity conservation organisations make to the SDGs?” led by her host Professor Bhaskar Vira at the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute. Building on the results of this project, she was able to deepen her understanding of the interconnections between the 169 targets that underlie the 17 SDGs, which will support current and future projects at her home institution, the International Institute for Sustainability (IIS).

TOPIC: The role of biodiversity conservation projects for achieving Sustainable Development Goals

HOST: Professor Bhaskar Vira (University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute)

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"I consider that this whole period was very fruitful as I managed to connect with many different people from all over the world, who provided important advice and inspiration for my current and future projects. I am sure this experience enriched my professional development and I go back to Brazil feeling motivated to keep working for nature and a sustainable future. "


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Impact

The immediate impact of the Programme’s activities is measured through detailed feedback

questionnaires and personal reports after the interns have returned home as well as feedback from

the hosts. The interns rated their internship experience with an average score of 4.9 for impact on a

scale where 1 is very poor and 5 is excellent. They commented that the most beneficial aspects of the

internship were access to useful advice, access to reliable internet and meeting other conservationists.

scientists.

It is clear from the reports that the interns benefited from their experience through learning new

methods and gaining new skills as well as having the chance to talk about their work to peers and

mentors. Their reports show how they will apply their new expertise back home. Several interns

mentioned learning how to use sophisticated software and how they would run courses back home to

share their new skills and knowledge with their colleagues.

Almost without exception, the interns reported that they will continue the work they started during

their internships back home, by submitting papers to be published, analysing their data with newly

acquired skills, or pursuing new collaborations with their hosts or others they met during the

internship. There is also a multiplier effect as interns share their new knowledge with others after

they return.

"The internship has sharpened my data collecting and analysing capability and strengthened my abilities

in conservation practices." (Prakash Mardaraj Harichandan, Amity University, Noida, India)

“I will certainly bring fresh ideas to Brazil to share with my colleagues. During the internship period, I

was able to meet several researchers, exchange ideas and open doors to future partnerships." (Aline

Tavares Santos, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Brazil)

Contributions of the hosts

The contribution of the hosts is vital to the success of the programme. The hosts put a great deal of

thought into maximising the learning opportunities for the interns and actively encourage interns to

network with colleagues, attend seminars and present their work to different audiences. The hosts

taught their interns new methods and analytical skills, and helped them improve their manuscripts or

PhD proposals. Many hosts give their interns opportunities to present their work to research groups,

carry out fieldwork, and visit other organisations. The breadth and depth of experience that the

participants gained from the internships is very much down to the amount of work, care and thought

that the hosts put into the internships.

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Prize winners 2019

Each year, we award prizes kindly donated by Cambridge University Press and Fauna & Flora

International to the three best interns. This year the three best reports will each win £75 worth of

books from Cambridge University Press in addition to membership of Fauna & Flora International for

two years, which includes a subscription to Oryx – the International Journal for Conservation. The

prize winners were as follows:

Viviane Dib da Silva (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)During her internship at King's College, London, Viviane learnt to use the WaterWorld computer

program, a policy support system developed by her host Dr Mark Mulligan and his team, to prioritise

areas in the Paraíba do Sul river basin in Brazil for forest restoration and water quality improvement.

In addition to the great benefit of learning to use a very useful and sophisticated tool with the help of

its developers, Viviane also appreciated the opportunity to interact with British researchers and

students, to meet many inspiring and competent young conservationists from all corners of the globe

and to practise her English in her first trip outside her home country. She has also been offered a

scholarship to develop part of her PhD at Kings College London under Dr. Mulligan's supervision will

be returning to London in October for another six months.

Prakash Mardaraj Harichandan (Amity Institute of Forestry & Wildlife, Amity

University, India) During his internship at the University of Reading, Prakash worked with

Professor Mark Fellowes and his team to improve his data collection and analysis techniques in his

studies of sloth bears in a human-dominated landscape in Eastern India. His activities included

attending a training course on establishing a camera station in the wild; a visit to a Bustard

reintroduction program near Salisbury and presenting a talk to other students and members of the

People and Wildlife Research Group (PAWS) at the University of Reading. Prakash feels that the skills

he has developed during his internship will make his future research more appropriate.

Ryan Rodrigues (National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India)Ryan used the internship period at Cardiff University to focus on the topic of the past and future

demographic trends of the endangered dhole, a heavily persecuted and under-studied large carnivore

for which there has been no published study simulating population viability to date. Using

demographic and genomic data, Ryan used Vortex 10 computer software to simulate dhole

populations in time. He credits Professor Michael Bruford and his department for making him more

professional and practical in the way that he now thinks about conservation as well as helping him to

develop skills such as modelling with genetic data, programming and effectively writing up reports.


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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Arcadia for supporting the Miriam Rothschild Travel Bursary Programme

(known as the SCCS Internships). Thanks also go to Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation,

Cambridge University Press and Fauna & Flora International for providing subscriptions and prizes.

We are grateful to the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, for hosting the SCCS

administration and providing facilities for the short courses.

We acknowledge the enthusiasm, collaboration and dedication of the internship hosts and supervisors

in making the Internship Programme such a success. We thank all the following:

Professor David Borchers (St Andrews University), Professor Michael Bruford (Cardiff University),

Professor Tim Coulson (University of Oxford), Dr Jeff Dawson (Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust),

Dr Regan Early (University of Exeter), Dr David Edwards (University of Sheffield), Professor Mark

Fellowes (University of Reading), Dr James Gilroy (University of East Anglia), Dr Mark Mulligan

(King's College, London), Professor Vincent Nijman (Oxford Brookes University), Professor Carlos

Peres (University of East Anglia), Dr Marcus Rowcliffe (Institute of Zoology, London), Dr Fiona

Sanderson (RSPB, Sandy), Dr Magdalena Svensson (Oxford Brookes University), Dr Robert Thomas

(Cardiff University), Dr Samuel Turvey (Institute of Zoology, London), Professor Bhaskar Vira (CCI,

University of Cambridge)

We thank the tutors for their invaluable teaching of the short courses held before the conference: Dr

Rob Small (Cambridge Conservation Initiative), Dr Freya St John (Bangor University) and Dr Ruth

Swetnam (Staffordshire University).

Lydia Collas, Roberto Correa, Nibu Mukherjee and Tom Worthington (all Department of Zoology,

University of Cambridge) kindly acted as short course teaching assistants.

201 - SCCS · 2019-08-29 · Ahmad Ardiansyah (Little Fireface Project, Java) Ahmad regards the...

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