C3-COMORES PAST INTERNS

SOPHIE HANSEN (FRANCE)

Sophie Hansen studied biology with a focus on marine biology and has worked for the communication unit of  IUCN Europe in Brussels and as a consultant for UNEP in Bonn.  She has conducted marine mammal research in Ireland and the Dominican Republic.

DANIELLA BLAKE (UK)

Daniella completed a degree in Ecology, Anthropology and French at the University of Otago. She spent time working as a park ranger in New Zealand, before volunteering with WWF in Madagascar. Daniella is particularly interested in the development of sustainable eco-tourism projects.

DR PASCALE LE POINT (BELGIUM)

Pascale completed her MSc in Land Management at the University catholique de Louvain in Belgium, where she contributed to the study of potato bacterial wilt in Rwanda. She later specialized in Phytopathology/Molecular Biology, focusing on the species concept within the African coffee wilt pathogen. As an undergraduate she studied black stork migration in Belgium.

EMILY WALKER (UK)

Emily recently graduated from the University of East Anglia with a BSc Environmental Sciences. During her time as an undergraduate she developed a particular interest in environmental policy making and marine conservation after spending a year studying in France at the Centre d’Océanologie de Marseille. In 2003 she worked for Coral Cay Conservation on a coral reef conservation project conducting baseline transects of reef tracts.

HELEN PAGETT (UK)

Helen completed her MSc in Marine Environmental Protection at the University of Wales, Bangor, where she developed techniques in the asexual propagation of soft corals. Her BSc in Marine Biology with Oceanography from Southampton involved the study of the effect of gravel banks and dredging on shark populations in the Solent. She has also volunteered with the sea turtle protection society of Greece carrying out Loggerhead turtle conservation on Crete.

NIAMH KELLY (IRELAND)

Niamh attended University College Dublin and received a BSc in Zoology. In 2005 she worked for Operation Wallacea in Indonesia surveying coral reefs and marine mammals. Niamh is currently a student at Napier University in Edinburgh completing an MSc in Wildlife Biology and Conservation.

ARABELLA BRAMLEY (UK)

Arabella has a BSc (Hons) degree in Zoology from the University of Wales, Swansea and an MSc in Conservation from University College London. She has worked in nature conservation in the UK and overseas for over 5 years. Her work has included undertaking various wildlife surveys in the UK, volunteering at a Sumatran Rhino Conservation Centre in Malaysia and carrying out a research project on Olive Colobus monkeys in the Ivory Coast.  Arabella is now Development Officer for C3.

PATIENCE MULU MEZOH AJIJAH (CAMEROON)

Patience organized exciting sea turtle and dugong awareness-raising events throughout Grande Comore, and publicized and judged a poetry competition.  She also mapped seagrass habitats in the North of Grande Comore and set up a reference database for C3-Comores.

AUDREY CLARK (USA)

Audrey painted a mural on the Hoani Conservation Centre.  She worked on seagrass mapping on Mohéli; coordinated a socioeconomic study of  turtle poaching and worked with students from the University of the Comoros to interview fishers about dugong sightings on Grande Comore.

BJORN ALFTHAN (UK / FINLAND)

Bjorn coordinated seagrass surveys on Mohéli and mapped the results using ArcView GIS software. He also implemented dugong sighting interviews within the Marine Park of Mohéli, and trained students from the University of the Comoros in similar survey techniques for Grande Comore.

JOANNE NICE (UK)

During her internship, Joanne wrote a report on the current state of ecotourism on Mohéli, to be presented to Ministers of Tourism and the Environment. This work was presented by her at the RCUK Annual Conference, held at the Zoological Society of London. She also assisted with seagrass surveys, turtle monitoring, and environmental education activities.

ARIANA ARCENAS (USA)

Ariana enjoyed participating in environmental awareness work for children, and arranged events for the National Citizens' week. She also was one of the main organizers for the Day of the Dugong, a dugong awareness day for the whole of the island of Mohéli, attended by the Minister for the Environment.

KILEKEN OLE-MOIYOI (USA / KENYA)

Kileken planned and analysed data from a study into traditional knowledge of the dugong on Mohéli. He also assisted with the organization of the Day of the Dugong, and helped implement the community ecoguard training programme and setup of the Conservation Centre in Hoani.

SARAH FREED (USA)

Sarah ran the Mohéli schools drawing competition for IOSEA Year of the Turtle. She visited 5 schools around Mohéli, in villages where turtle poaching was particularly prevalent and took the winners to see turtles nesting in Itsamia. Sarah also edited Journal Ngouva, the C3-Comores newsletter.

MELISSA HAUZER (CANADA)

Melissa carried out village consultations in all of the villages involved in Mohéli Marine Park, to discover local perceptions of the Park. She presented the C3-Comores programme at the International Society for Reef Studies conference in Germany and is now a full-time member of C3 staff.

CHARLES BEAUFRERE (FRANCE)

Charles helped create an ecotourism questionnaire to investigate tourists' perceptions of Mohéli. His artistic skills also came in useful to design dugong and turtle brochures for distribution throughout the island.