Determining the Socio-Ecological Impact of Field Station Conservation Initiatives

Primary Investigator: Sydney VanWinkle

My name is Sydney VanWinkle and I graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a BS & MS in Environmental Science. I am in Madagascar for 9 months on a Fulbright Student Scholarship. I built my research project in collaboration with RIT, the Centre ValBio (CVB) and the Seneca Park Zoo Society in Rochester, NY, USA. 

During my  time here,  I have worked closely with CVB's Education Department to create an impact evaluation protocol and pilot it on the Conservation Club Program. One common challenge for field stations like CVB is understanding the short and long-term impacts of their initatives. This can be especially difficult since some benefits of environmental efforts may not be realized for many years, even after a project has ended. The Conservation Club program provides biodiversity and reforestation classes while simultaneously providing technical training and other crucial social assistance throughout communities. The program promotes music, hygiene and sanitation activities, among others, to encourage quality of life improvement in rural areas while promoting more sustainable environmental practices. Through this study, I hope to not only discover valuable information that is imperative for the long-term success of the Conservation Club Program, but I will also create an adaptable protocol that can be used in the future by researchers to evaluate other projects.

People have, by far, been my favorite part of conducting my research. I learned so much from the people I interviewed for my project, from the staff I worked with at CVB and from those who I met throughout Madagascar. I also couldn't have completed this work without my collaborators, especially those in the Education Department at CVB. Thanks to their expertise I accomplished more than I could have hoped for in a very short period of time!

Photos courtesy of Alba Schielen, 2023