Maldives Knowledge Exchange
Scientist Profile: Irthisham Hassan Zareer (Iru)
Research and Outreach Coordinator at the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP)
Iru's role at the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme involves a blend of field research—covering both ecological and social surveys—report writing, outreach and engagement, networking and fundraising. As is common in small NGO's, she often takes on a variety of tasks, but particularly enjoys the aspects where she gets to share scientific knowledge with the communities she works with.
Since joining the NGO in 2015, a significant portion of her career has been dedicated to studying whale sharks. Additionally, she has also had the opportunity to work on benthic coral reef ecosystems and collaborate on ongoing manta research. To gain further knowledge and experience in her field, she also undertakes consultancy work for environmental monitoring and managing anthropogenic impacts within species hotspots.
Her primary interest lies in megafauna research, particularly filter feeders; as such, she finds training in zooplankton research both exciting and valuable for her future career and academic plans.
Scientist Profile: Enas Mohamed Riyaz (Tonti)
Senior Env Analyst at Environmental Research & Conservation of EPA Maldives.
Tonti works at the Environmental Protection Agency of Maldives, where she’s primarily involved in Protected Species and Protected Areas monitoring, long-term research, outreach, as well as regulation and enforcement.
Additionally, Tonti is involved in conservation science communication and field biology, and has written for several books and magazines. She is passionate about natural history and is preparing to begin her Master's degree in Taxonomy, Biodiversity, and Evolution this year. She aims to use the skills she gained from the Nekton fellowship in her studies.
Timeline
- Planning: The Maldives Knowledge Exchange Expedition (MKEE’22) was a joint applied marine research and knowledge exchange programme between 12 scientists from the Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, EU and the UK. The Expedition formed part of the Nekton-Maldives expedition and was carried out over a ten-day period.
- Expeditions: The field phase of this expedition (Sept-Oct 2022) was conducted aboard the MV Odyssey (30 days) and Dhinasha (10 days), by a team of 39 scientific personnel and ships’ crew. It concentrated on seven sites from North Malé to Addu Atoll covering 590km in latitude. Focusing on the north and north-east aspects of the atolls, a full range of biological and environmental parameters were documented.
- Nekton Maldives Expedition Taxonomic Workshop: co-hosted by Nekton and MMRI held at Maniyafushi Research Station at Maniyafushi, Maldives between the 12-23 February 2023. The audience was composed by Maldivian participants from a range of different organizations in the Maldives. You can find out more about the taxonomic workshop here.
- Papers Developed and Published: The science team onboard the RV Odyssey have produced several papers of their Maldives findings including: the findings from the Nekton Maldives taxonomic workshop and the Maldives Benthic ID guide.
- Zooplankton Knowledge Exchange: Taking place in the Nekton Laboratory in Begbroke Science Park, Oxford during July 2024. Irthisham Hassan Zareer & Enas Mohamed Riyaz are learning and identifying different groups of organisms you can find in the zooplankton community. The training is being supported by Nuria Rico Seijo and Marianne Wootton. The participants from this zooplankton training program will also support the team with the future publication of the zooplankton samples collected during the Nekton Maldives Expedition in 2022.
