Kyle Beckett
“This placement has reaffirmed my aspirations, and I personally feel so much more readiness for a zoological career now than ever before.”
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Course studied: BSc (Hons) Zoology
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Placement employer: Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute (MRCI)
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@Placement job title: Forest Conservation Volunteer
My placement
The Madagascar Research and Conservation Institute (MRCI) is a government-approved organisation based on the island of Nosy Komba in the Diana region of Northern Madagascar.
MRCI has many initiatives to both maintain and improve all aspects of the local area via their five main programmes:
- forest conservation
- marine conservation
- turtle conservation
- construction
- teaching.
Everyone on camp has a positive attitude and works hard to make a positive impact whilst having fun and keeping morale high.
My routine
The forest programme was structured by a weekly schedule with weekends off: we would carry out four surveys each week: reptile visual encounter survey (Mondays) counting the number of individuals and species seen as well as where they were seen, lemur behaviour survey (Wednesdays), bird point count (Thursdays) counting the number of individuals and species seen, and a night survey (Thursdays).
We hiked to the agroforest every Tuesday to plant tree saplings from our nursery. We planted a range of plants that would be useful to both the locals as well as the wildlife such as papaya, cacao and jackfruit.
A large part of our down time on camp was spent studying the local species to improve our ability to identify them as well as understand both inter and intraspecies dynamics. For example, it was fascinating to learn about the ways in which the crested drongo alerts other species with a call when a predator is nearby, this whole process was simplified for me as we have done a lot of work with this on my course especially during field trips.
During the evenings 2-3 times a week I would help one of the locals (who led the forest programme) with English as he was struggling but over time there was a significant improvement in his ability.
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Male black lemur
Kyle with a pair of black lemurs (male and female) during a survey
Kyle with a Boa on Nosy Komba
Nile crocodile
Why I wanted to do a placement
My focal reason for undertaking a placement year was to gain experience and demonstrate that I am comfortable living and working in a remote location for a long duration of time.
My aim post-graduation is to work in conservation or research in the field somewhere remote.
The chance to spend three months on an island off the coast of Madagascar was a perfect way to prove to myself, as well as future employers, that I am capable of living and working in a diverse environment in respect to culture, climate, and surroundings in general. I also thought it was the perfect way to fit in some travelling.
My best moment
The best moment was during a weekend trip I embarked on with a few other volunteers on three different weekends.
I was lucky to be in Madagascar during whale shark season and we went on trips out to go and snorkel with them, which is probably the best thing I’ve ever done.
It was incredible to witness these animals up close, we were also very lucky on one trip to see and swim with a couple of oceanic manta rays which was a nice surprise.
Whale shark
Island of Nosy Komba
Madagascan giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis)
The most rewarding achievement, and up there with the best moments, was being part of the team who built a school in the Ampohana locality on mainland Madagascar.
Ampohana is a very rural locality where there were three villages with around 60 children who had no access to an education and are unable to speak English beyond a “hello”.
During my time on this project I helped build the floors of the rooms which was incredibly hard work as we had to shovel sand and transport it from the beach, as well as carry cement and water to the school to then mix it all with shovels to make concrete. Throughout the week we repeated this 2-3 times a day in 34 degree heat and went through ~250kg of cement on each mix.
This hard work was vindicated when I was invited back to the opening ceremony weekend where a traditional party and dinner took place which was an amazing way to witness and understand some of the local culture and traditions.
Just seeing the school completed with the locals inside was a great feeling and made me very pleased to have contributed and hopefully one day I can visit and see the progress that has been made.
Building a school in the Ampohana, Madagascar
Skills I've gained
This was my first solo trip so it was a little daunting, especially travelling to a new country in which I knew nobody.
When I arrived on the MRCI camp there was approximately 30 of us and before this trip I never thought I would be able to join a group of strangers and get to know them quickly, especially with a group consisting of people from a range of nations with varying levels of English but this has proven me wrong. Very quickly I made a lot of friends and continued to do so when more people arrived.
This experience has made me more comfortable talking to new people and has allowed me to speak more openly sooner as I had previously been a bit of a closed book on initial meetings.
I even got to a point where I could get by in brief parts of conversations with random locals in Malagasy which is something I never thought was possible.
I had a great opportunity to develop my cooperation and teamwork whilst volunteering in Madagascar, such as when I decided to help build the school in Ampohana.
Carrying out surveys cooperation was also imperative, as it is almost impossible to track an individual lemur's behaviour whilst also recording the data and timekeeping alone.
My communication has also come along way as a result of working with MRCI. In Madagascar the locals all speak Malagasy and most speak French, some speak English but those who do tend to struggle especially in conversation.
As someone who does not speak either official language at all, speaking to locals during my first few weeks was a struggle. However I quickly learned the manner in which to simplify sentences in order to get my point across best.
Our forest programme guides were both local Malagasy people who could speak English, one better than the other. The main issue this raised was describing where an animal was when we had spotted a reptile on surveys, learning what worked well for them was important as due to the fact that some animals do not stick around long quick, effective communication is key.
Also during my time there, particularly towards the second half of my stay, I made sure to help educate other volunteers on the programme about the species present in the area as I had become familiar with them. Again, this required thought in terms of the language used as all volunteers had varying levels of English (being from places such as Germany, Netherlands and Mexico)
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Panther chameleon
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Madagascar pygmy kingfisher
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Critically endangered crowned sifaka
Sunset from camp
Gaining contacts
I met lots of great people from all over the globe, and a couple are particularly relevant to my field of study. I met a South African guy who had worked on game reserves across South Africa, he helped out at the forest programme for a few weeks and his detailed insight into the inner workings of an ecosystem was really interesting.
I also got to know and got on with the owner/founder of MRCI and when I left we had a discussion where I provided a couple of ideas for the programme's future and discussed the ability for me to come back in some capacity after my studies.
Support in securing a placement
The University was very supportive in arranging my placement. My tutor Sarah was particularly helpful when selecting where to go as I had a list of a few places I had found.
The placements team were very helpful in regard to filling out placement forms and risk assessments. It was also very reassuring to know that had I had any issues whilst out there or with my travel that I had multiple people I could go to for assistance if needed.
How my placement influenced me
This placement has reaffirmed my aspirations, and I personally feel so much more readiness for a zoological career now than ever before especially as I have the experience.
I feel more comfortable and reassured knowing that there are more opportunities out there than I had previously anticipated, as well as the fact that I now know for sure that I am capable of doing them well.
If you are considering doing a placement abroad, go for it. My decision to do so was one of the best I have made.
I have had the chance to experience an amazing country and culture, make lots of friends and memories and had the chance to complete bucket list level activities. As well as this, it has made me a better person, personally and professionally, and opened countless doors for my future.
Searching for reptiles during a survey along a transect on Nosy Komba
Kyle with a female black lemur
Gain in-depth knowledge of animal ecology and evolution
On our Zoology course you will develop an understanding of all aspects of animal biology in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments.
You'll develop the key field work and lab skills in animal behaviour, molecular biology, physiology, and anatomy that are sought after by employers and are necessary for postgraduate education.
As well as having the opportunity to participate in field trips both locally and abroad – recent field trip locations include southern Spain and Kenya.
