2013. What is Operation Wallacea? Tropical scientific expeditions in 9 countries 170+ academics running more than 120 projects Results published in peer-reviewed

20132013

What is Operation Wallacea?• Tropical scientific expeditions in 9 countries• 170+ academics running more than 120 projects• Results published in peer-reviewed journals

What is Operation Wallacea?• 30 new vertebrate species to science discovered• Large temporal and spatial data sets obtained from

tuition fee funded model• Data used to assess the performance of conservation

management programs

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

conservation management programs

Team Members

Principal Researchers

Assistant Researchers

Visiting Academics

Dissertation Students

Research Assistants

Medical Staff

Pre–med Expedition Medicine

Operations Staff

Joining as a Research Assistant•Course credit available

•Gain experience for CV or for helping to choose career direction

•Fixed Itineraries (Madagascar, Egypt, Guyana, Mexico, Peru, South Africa)

•Personalized Itineraries •(Indonesia, Honduras)

•Pre–med: Expedition Medical course

MadagascarMadagascar

Spiny Forest Biodiversity Survey

Data gathered for Biosphere application for Mandrare Valley

Madagascar Wildlife and Communities course in Week 1

Rotate between camps across Ifotaka North

Scan and focal sampling of Verraux’s Sifaka and Ring Tailed Lemurs

Spotlight and trapping surveys for nocturnal lemurs


Spiny Forest Biodiversity Survey

Invasive plant surveys

Vegetation surveys using Gentry plots

Bird point counts and mist netting

Iguana activity budgets

Day time and spotlight surveys for chameleon diversity


EgyptEgypt

Mountain Desert Biodiversity Survey

Data contributing to biodiversity atlas survey of St Katherine Protectorate

Desert living training in first 3 days

4 days surveying in mountain desert and living in Bedouin camps

Surveys are for target plants, reptiles and bird surveys from transects, small mammal trapping, grazing pressure of ibex, etc.

EgyptEgypt

Red Sea Reef Ecology Course

EgyptEgypt

GuyanaGuyana

Guiana Shield Forest Biodiversity SurveysData being used to assess effects of selective logging on biodiversity

Based in remote forest field camps

Week 1: Guiana Shield forest ecology and jungle survival course

Weeks 2 & 3: Working from 2 different camps

Mist netting for birds and bats

Herpetofauna surveys – transects & spotlighting

Large mammal transect surveys

GuyanaGuyana

Burro Burro River Surveys

GuyanaGuyana

MexicoMexico

Mayan ForestBiodiversity Surveys

First large-scale surveys of the vast Calakmul Biopshere.

Data collected for REDD+ application and data for setting sustainable hunting quotas

Mayan forest ecology course and visit to the Mayan ruins in Week 1

Butterfly and moth surveys

Mist netting for birds and bats

Pitfall traps and transect searches for herpetofauna

Transect sampling and camera trapping for mammals

MexicoMexico

Forest Elements of the Mexico Programme

MexicoMexico

Marine Elements of the Mexico Programme

MexicoMexico

PeruPeru

Amazonian Forest SurveysData collected for REDD+ application and data for setting hunting quotas

Based on research ships

Amazonian wildlife conservation course in week 1

Bird mist netting and water bird transects

River dolphin surveys

Fish community surveys

PeruPeru

Amazonian Forest

Surveys

Amphibian surveys

Macaw counts

Large mammal transects

Camera trapping

River turtle population counts and nest transferring (water level dependent)

Primate niche separation and time budgeting

PeruPeru

Caiman Surveys

PeruPeru

South AfricaSouth Africa

Elephant Carrying

Capacity SurveysTwo low veld sites – one in Kruger and one in Thanda in KwaZulu Natal

How do you determine elephant carrying capacity

Bush training and savannah ecology course in week 1

Week 2 onwards field surveys for half a day each day

Other half in camp completing African wildlife conservation course


Sodwana Bay, South Africa


Personalized Itinerary Options

2, 4, 6 or 8 weeks

Select the training course and research assistant options for your itinerary

Options in Indonesia and Honduras

IndonesiaIndonesia

Training Courses

Jungle training and Wallacea wildlife course

Canopy Access

Dive training

Indo Pacific reef ecology

Divemaster training

IndonesiaIndonesia

IndonesiaIndonesia

Marine Research Assistant Projects

in Indonesia

IndonesiaIndonesia

Stereo Video Surveys

CubaCuba

Analyzing Stereo Video Footage

HondurasHonduras

Training Courses

Jungle training and Neotropical wildlife course

Canopy Access

Dive training

Caribbean reef ecology

Divemaster training

HondurasHonduras

HondurasHonduras

HondurasHonduras

Pre-Med Expedition Medicine Course

Jungle survival & Neotropical ecology course

Expedition medicine course with lectures and practicals on:•pre-expedition planning•medical emergencies and trauma in the field•tropical infections•snake bite and envenomation

PADI open water dive training or Caribbean reef ecology course

Expedition Medicine

Expedition Medicine

Senior Thesis Research Topics• Complete data collection over summer

• 90% + of students get top two grades for field projects

• Recent projects at Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Toronto, Birmingham, Manchester and others have won best departmental dissertations

Academic Support

Botany and Invertebrate Research Topics• Environmental impacts on leaf formation• Epiphytes in cloud forests• Forest disturbance impacts on butterflies• Orchid bee diversity• Niche separation in tarantulas• Dung beetle communities in cloud forest

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras


Herpetofauna Research Topics• Impacts of habitat on Sulawesi herpetofauna

•Abundance and distribution of threatened amphibians in cloud forest

•Population ecology of Hog Island Boas

•Behaviour and ecology of ctenosaurs

•Niche separation in caimans

•Herpetofaun acommunities in Mexico

•Sea turtle behaviour and nest site preferences

•Colour change in chameleons and leaf tailed geckos

•Population levels of Nile crocodiles in Madagascar

•Population levels of colubrid snakes

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Madagascar

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Madagascar

Bird Ecology

Research Topics• Habitat associations of Sulawesi birds• Behaviour of island birds• Cloud forest bird communities• Assessing detectability of forest birds• Effects of fire on winter bird communities• Bird communities in different Amazonian habitats• Water bird communities in the Amazon• Endemic bird habitat associations in Madagascar

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, South Africa, Peru, Madagascar

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, South Africa, Peru, Madagascar

Mammal Research Topics•Sulawesi forest bat communities

•Civet ranging behaviour

•Arboreal marsupial ecology in Sulawesi

•Population levels of Sulawesi megafauna

•Vasectomy impact s on elephant behaviour

•Carrying capacity of reserves for elephant

•Distribution patterns of large herbivores

•Niche separation in Amazonian dolphins

•Occupancy modeling and camera trapping mammals in Amazonia , Mexico or Madagascar

•Comparison of mist net and sonogram surveys for bats

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, South Africa, Peru

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, South Africa, Peru

Primate Research Topics

• Effects of forest disturbance on Buton Macaque behaviour

• Sleeping tree selectivity in tarsiers

• Niche separation in Amazonian primates

• Spider monkey grouping patterns

• Feeding ecology, habitat selection and activity budgets in Coquerel’s and Verreaux’s Sifakas

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Madagascar

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Madagascar

Marine Ecology Research Topics

• Resource utilization of reef fish across environmental gradients• Association between anemone fish and host anemones• Competition between hard coral species• Comparison between reef and reef fish survey methods• Island biogeography of coral reef patches• Sea urchin ecology in the Caribbean• Changes in reef fish from stereo video surveys• Reef fish and benthic communities in Madagascar

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Madagascar

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Madagascar

Intertidal Research Topics

• Niche separation in fiddler and sentinel crabs• Physiological adaptations of rock pool species• Seagrass ecology• Impact of mangrove degradation on functionality



Environmental Science Research

Topics• Impact of coral growth forms on biodiversity•Photoacclimation response of reef building corals• Effects of Crown of Thorns starfish on reefs• Effects on corallite morphology of sedimentation• Spatial variation in coral mortality• Environmental impact of seaweed farms• Hydrography & water quality of coastal lagoons in Mexico



Marine Physiology Research Topics

• Effects of noisy soundscapes on settling crabs• Physiology of cephalopods• Temperature preferences of intertidal fishes• Water loss resistance of intertidal crabs• Emergence patterns in mudskipper species in relation to water loss• Resistance of tropical frogs to water loss• Ecophysiology of mangrove corals

Senior Thesis Topics – IndonesiaSenior Thesis Topics – Indonesia

Fisheries

Research Topics• Changes in the Kaledupa reef fishery 2007 – 2013• Effects of fish fences on fisheries•Cleaner fish behavioural strategies•A comparison of fish diversity in different Amazonian habitats•Stream fish diversity in cloud forest

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Peru

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Honduras, Peru

Genetics Research Topics• Barcoding diversity of Cusuco cloud forest• Landscape genetics of amphibians• Chytrid fungus impacts on frogs• Genetic diversity in tarantulas

Senior Thesis Topics - HondurasSenior Thesis Topics - Honduras

Spatial Ecology and GIS Research

Topics

• Mapping forest change in Sulawesi •Species distribution modeling • Landscape ecology in Madagascar

•Remote sensing and environmental modeling in Madagascar

• Developing monitoring protocols for REDD+

Senior Thesis Topics – Indonesia, Madagascar


Conservation Management

Research Topics• Resilience of marine dependent communities• •Impact of ecotourism growth in the Wakatobi Islands

• Forest land tenure in Madagascar

• Economic impacts of tourism in southern Madagascar

• Natural resource dependent livelihoods in Mandrare Valley

• Assessment and valuation of ecosystem service provision in Madagascar



Dates and Prices

Expeditions run over the summer

Itinerary advice at next meeting or emailed

Prices

2 weeks - $1,7504 weeks - $3,200

6 weeks - $4,3508 weeks - $5,500

Fundraising support with information about grant opportunities

Masters Field

Placements

• Available for 6 months from January 2014

PhD Grants Available

Staff Positions

After Your Op Wall ExpeditionAfter Your Op Wall Expedition

Questions?

Feedback From the 2012 ExpeditionsYou come for one reason, but want to stay for another. I was most profoundly affected by the knowledge I learnt outside the traditional learning environments. Natalia Paine, Harvard University, USA; Research Assistant, Indonesia Expeditions Expedition

My Op Wall experience opened my eyes to a world of research and my heart to a level of love for nature that I didn’t know was possible. Kayla Mann, University of New Brunswick, Canada; Research Assistant, South Africa Expedition

Amazing experience! A lot of knowledgeable staff that you could learn from. Love the hands-on stuff!! Christine Munro, McMaster University, Canada; Dissertation Student, Honduras Expedition

Close encounters of the elephant kind are amazing and will keep me coming back to South Africa. Anna Ree, Concordia University College of Alberta; Dissertation Student, South Africa Expedition

20122012

Documents

2013. What is Operation Wallacea? Tropical scientific expeditions in 9 countries 170+ academics running more than 120 projects Results published in peer-reviewed