Ecofieldtrips Tropical Research Programme

Since 2006 Ecofieldtrips has been running an undergraduate research programme on Pulau Tioman, Malaysia. Located in the heart of the South China Sea, Pulau Tioman is a fantastically diverse, rainforest clad volcano that boasts flora and fauna with a high degree of endemism. The warm, clear waters that surround the island are teeming with life, possessing some of the highest live coral covers in SE Asia.

Ecofieldtrips set up this programme to begin long term monitoring of the rainforest, mangrove and coral reef environments on the island. This provides us with valuable quantitative information on how anthropogenic impact is affecting the island's ecosystems and may be important for future conservation measures.

Our aim has been to provide affordable research experience to UK students that will go on to supply them with valuable skills and knowledge that will make them particularly strong candidates for future employment in conservation, research or education.

Kajsa Brittsjo - Dissertation student 2008:

"I studied the territorial behaviour of 5 species of Damselfish, comparing those found on the Melina Beach reef to those found on nearby Genting reef to see if the amount of algae (food) available at each location affected how territorial the fish were. Data collection included snorkel transect studies and fish observation. I had a great time and it was a wonderful experience. I would warmly recommend it to any future dissertation students thinking about going."