2013

What is Operation Wallacea? Tropical scientific expeditions in 9countries 200+ 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

Research Sites

Principal Researchers Assistant Researchers Visiting Academics Dissertation Students Research Assistants Medical Staff Pre –med Expedition Medicine Operations Staff Team Members

Gain experience for CV or for helping to choose career direction Fixed Itineraries (Madagascar, Egypt, Cuba, Guyana, South Africa, Mexico, Peru) Personalized Itineraries (Indonesia, Honduras) Pre –meds: Expedition Medical course Joining as a Research Assistant

Spiny Forest Biodiversity Survey Data gathered for Biosphere application for Mandrare Valley Madagascar wildlife and communities course Rotate between camps across Ifotaka North Scan and focal sampling of Verrauxs Sifaka and Ring Tailed Lemurs Spotlight and trapping surveys for nocturnal lemurs Madagascar

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 Madagascar

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 Egypt

Dive training or Red Sea Reef Ecology Course Egypt

Reef surveys on Isle of Youth Data contributing to management plan for southern Isle of Youth Sustainable Management Zone Based in remote hotel and working off research ships Week 1 dive training and reef fish identification or if already dive trained completing a Caribbean reef ecology course Week 2 surveying remote reefs with stereo video, manatee surveys and analyzing the stereo video data Cuba

Stereo video surveys Cuba

Stereo-Video Footage

Analysing Stereo-Video Footage

Guiana Shield Forest Biodiversity surveys Data 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 and 3 working from 2 different camps Mist netting for birds and bats Herpetofauna surveys from transects and night spotlighting Large mammal transect surveys Guyana

Burro Burro river surveys Guyana

Elephant carrying capacity surveys Two low veld sites – one at Kruger and one at 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 South Africa

Dive Training and Reef Ecology Course, Sodwana Bay South Africa

Mayan Forest Biodiversity Surveys First large-scale surveys of the vast Calakmul Biosphere. Data collected for REDD+ application and data for setting sustainable hunting quotas Mayan forest ecology course and visit to the Mayan ruins Mist netting for birds and bats Pitfall traps and transect searches for herpetofauna Mexico

Transect sampling and camera trapping for large mammals Mexico

Turtle, Reef and Lagoon Surveys Large scale surveys of Akumal coastline Data collected to assess tourism impact on the marine ecosystem and for protected area application Water quality assessment in cenotes, lagoons and reefs Biodiversity surveys of reefs Turtle behaviour surveys and nesting site monitoring Mexico

Amazonian Forest Surveys Data 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 Peru

Amazonian Forest Surveys Amphibian surveys Macaw counts Large mammal transects Camera trapping River turtle population counts and nest transferring (depending on water levels) Primate niche separation and time budgeting Peru

Caiman surveys Peru

Our two largest field sites offer more flexibility so you can create you own personalized expedition Join for 2, 4, 6 or 8 weeks Forest only, marine only or a bit of both Select the training course and research assistant options for your itinerary Options in Indonesia and Honduras Personalized Itineraries

Training courses Jungle training and Wallacea wildlife course Canopy Access Dive training Indo Pacific reef ecology Dive Master training Indonesia

Sulawesi Forest Surveys Biodiversity surveys of the Lambusango forest Invertebrate surveys Mark recapture surveys for birds, bats and civets Behavioural studies of tarsiers, cuscus and macaques Carbon biomass estimates Large mammal transect surveys Indonesia

Wakatobi Reef System Surveys Most diverse reef system in the world Stereo-video and visual surveys of reefs Research ship based surveys Research Assistant Pool Indonesia

Training courses Jungle training and Neotropical wildlife course Canopy Access Dive training Caribbean reef ecology Dive Master training Honduras

Cloud Forest Surveys Herpetofauna transect and river surveys Mist netting for birds and bats Beetle, moth, orchid bee and arachnid surveys Carbon biomass surveys Large mammal transect surveys Honduras

Bay Island Reef Surveys Comparison of reef diversity and health between Utila and Cayos Cochinos Stereo-video and visual surveys Water quality assessment of mangrove lagoons Hog Island Boa surveys Honduras

Expedition medicine Expedition medicine experiential course (4weeks; jungle training, DNA, biodiversity monitoring, and dive training. Includes a week long course on expedition medicine) Medical Electives (8 weeks shadowing different doctors supporting the Opwall expeditions in the cloud forests and reefs of Honduras)

Dissertation research topics Complete data collection over summer 90% + of students get top two grades for field projects Opwall projects at Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Toronto, Birmingham, Manchester etc have won best departmental dissertations

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 Dissertation 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 Mayan Forest Herpetofaun a communities Sea turtle behaviour and nest site preferences Colour change in chameleons and leaf tailed geckos Population levels of Nile crocodiles Population levels of colubrid snakes Dissertation 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 Dissertation 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 modelling and camera trapping mammals in Amazonia, Mexico or Madagascar Comparison of mist net and sonogram surveys for bats Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras, South Africa, Peru, Mexico

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 and social behaviour Feeding ecology, habitat selection and activity budgets in Coquerels and Verreauxs Sifakas Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Madagascar

Marine Ecology Research Topics Resource utilisation 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 Dissertation 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 Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras

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 and their impact on coral health in Mexico Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Honduras

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 Dissertation 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 Dissertation 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 Dissertation topics - Honduras

Spatial Ecology and GIS Research Topics Mapping forest change in Sulawesi Species distribution modelling Landscape ecology in Madagascar Remote sensing and environmental modelling in Madagascar Developing monitoring protocols for REDD+ Dissertation 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 Dissertation topics – Indonesia, Madagascar

Dates and Prices Expeditions run over the summer vacations Itinerary advice ed Prices 2 weeks - £ weeks - £ weeks - £ weeks - £3500 Professional fundraising support with information about grant opportunities Dates and Prices

Post-expedition Opportunities Valuable field experience to help you obtain employment or move on to further study MRes field placements available for 6 months from January 2014 PhD Grants available Staff positions After the Opwall expedition

Questions?