After joining the MBA team as the Data manager for DASSH (UK Archive for Marine Species and Habitats Data in May 2023, I now hold a role as Strategic Projects Manager overseeing the delivery of a range of internal, national and international projects and collaborations between our data experts researchers and citizen scientists. I have expertise in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) specifically in conservation and development programming. I hold an MSc in Conservation Biology and am currently completing my PhD part time on the small scale fisheries of Madagascar at the University of Exeter.
I built my experience and passion for data and data sharing working for the NGO Blue Ventures and living and working in southwest Madagascar where I saw first-hand how the lack of information on the status of marine natural resources undermines local and national efforts to manage and conserve them.
I led a number of research expeditions collecting biodiversity data around the country and spearheaded the development of community-based data collection, management and visualisation systems that served to engage and inform both fishers and policy makers. These systems are now being used by communities across multiple countries to guide local marine resource management decisions and empower local leaders to advocate for wider policy changes that will help to sustain their fisheries.
