Environmental evaluation research |22 June 2018

UniSey students showcase their projects through exhibition

As part of their Bachelor of Environment Science degree assessment, 17 environment science students from the Faculty of Business and Sustainable Development at the University of Seychelles (UniSey) presented their third year evaluation research projects through a poster exhibition held yesterday morning at the campus cafeteria at Anse Royale.

The fourth cohort students had to undertake independent environment research project courses in their third and final year. The full-year Bachelor of Science (BSc Honours) environment science course comprises lectures and self-study, in which the students have to choose a research topic related to environmental science.

They then have to formulate research questions and hypothesis, identify appropriate methodology in which to undertake their research, write a project proposal, do a literature review, complete an ethics application, assess health and safety risks, collect their data, analyse their data and write it up as a mini-thesis. They also have to defend their research in a mini-viva, and finally present it as a poster.

Present at the exhibition were the principal secretary for environment, Alain Decomarmond, the vice-chancellor of UniSey Justin Valentin, other representatives of UniSey and of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, parents, students and invited guests.

The exhibition showcased a wide variety of research projects relating to the discipline of environmental science: from plastic pollution and food waste, to coastal erosion, agro forestry, conservation and ecological studies.

The students conducted their research on various study sites on Mahé, Praslin, La Digue and Fregate islands where they spent between a couple of days to a few weeks collecting data. They chose their projects based on their interest and abilities. Viewers at the exhibition were able to interact with the students on their projects.

Mr Valentin said that the environmental education programme should be among the niche areas at the university as “Seychelles is environment”.

He noted that to be in line with new developments, there will be a review of the programme which for the last five years had benefitted 15 environment specialists, all of whom have been employed in the local labour market.

Some students explaining their work to guests

“There are adequate opportunities in the environment field and this fact have been further supported by the various calls that we are practically getting everyday from various CEOs and DGs in various organisations advising us that they would like to recruit students from this programme,” Mr Valentin told the students.

He reminded them that they can now also pursue further studies overseas.

Mr Valentin said that UniSey is in the process of adopting June 5 for its Environment Day activities and will encourage other stakeholders to use UniSey as the platform to celebrate the event on that day.

In a keynote address, Dr Laura Blamey, the current co-ordinator of the Year 3 Independent Research Project course, highlighted that research is important in keeping programmes regional and current, and this could not be more true for an environmental science programme in the present day, where dynamic environmental challenges are found at every turn, especially in small island states.

“In particular, research in Seychelles should be locally driven, to meet local needs and address local challenges. A local university offering relevant programmes and driving relevant research is thus fundamental,” said Dr Blamey.

International student, Lara Kalisch, from Germany, said she chose to study in Seychelles because of the unique environment which is perfect to study environmental science and the different modules available.

“I enjoy the fact that in your third year, you can choose a specialisation such as climate change resilience, tropical bio-diversity or marine science,” she said, noting that she also got the chance to get involved in national environment projects and also to visit islands that she would never have got the chance to visit on her own.

The 17 third-year environment science students and their projects are: Asha Emillien (Distribution and comparison of sea grass), Sophie Morel (Aquaponics: making food security more sustainable in Seychelles), Rossetta  Alcindor (Baseline study on food waste production in hotels and mechanism for reduction), Jessica Moumou (Evaluating the distrbution of Praslin Sooglossid and the influence of invasive species, water source proximity and vegetation cover), Lynndina Essack (Erosion and the coastal management of North East Point beach), Ralph Legaie (Macrobenthos bio-diversity between artificial and natural sandy beaches), Megan Dine (Abundance and diversity of sea urchins on shallow littoral reefs flats),  Rosabella Mangroo (Perception of the Seychelles plastic ban), Lara Kalisch (Feeding behaviour and rate of an obligate corallivore chaetodon trifasciatus), Irma Dubois (The behaviours and interactions of labroides dimidiatus), Julio Agricole (The importance of Anse Royale beach to the society and its socio-ecological opportunities), Yuna Madeleine (Implementing agro-forestry), Krystel D’Offay (Comparison of the survivorship of mangroves irrigated with fresh water and sea water for propagation in nurseries), Catherina Onezia (The population status of Terpsiphone corvine, Seychelles black  paradise fly catcher), Raina Nicette (Calculating the resilience of sandy beach ecosystems to sea level rise), Aisha Rachel (Assessing coastal management choices and practices) and  Dillys Pouponeau (Population and habitat assessment of the Fregate tenebrionid beetle).