Hi everyone, Am Frank Mirobo! Secretary-General of the WIOECSN and the Co-Coordinator of writing the Ocean Decade Challenges (ODC) booklet for the African Continent. Am a marine scientist with an interest in Megafauna ecology and biology, fisheries, Plastic Pollution, and the conservation of marine Organisms. Am a graduate of MSc in Aquatic ecosystem management at...

The WIOMSA Newsbrief contains several interesting stories from WIOMSA and partners for the September-December quarter. Here’s what is featured in the Newsbrief: WIO-ECSN at the WIOGEN Ocean Governance conference where a number of members of the Western Indian Ocean Early Career Scientists Network (WIO-ECSN) presented papers at the conference and share their experiences here:, a...

An interdisciplinary, inter-professional and international floating university project named “École bleu outremer, Cap sur l’Océan Indien” A project fully in line with the main objectives of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainability Development (2021-2030) The Ifremer, jointly with several partners based in the Indian Ocean: IRD, CNRS, University of La Réunion, TAAF (French...

Oceans & Lakes is an interuniversity master programme that provides students with a strong fundamental and applied knowledge in the scientific research and management of marine and lacustrine systems. Though the Flemish Inter-University Council (VLIR-UOS), scholarships are provided for this 2-year master programme in “Master of Science in Marine and Lacustrine Science and Management” (Oceans...

The African Youth summit was aimed at fostering ownership and stewardship of the global Marine Protected Areas agenda among African youth. Our youth network hosted a talk on “Building your career with the environment” with the western Indian Ocean Early Career Scientists Network (WIOECSN). Our members across the region facilitated different sessions in the summit...

RACHEL THOMS, our co-opted member from the United States of America and an early career researcher in the ocean sciences. She works as a data scientist in the World Resources Institute in Washington, DC, holds a Bachelor of Science and is specialized in data science for marine conservation. She is interested in “data revolution” and...

Perhaps the African Marine Science week should form part of the Western Indian Ocean-Early Career Scientists Network’s (WIO-ECSN’s) annual calendar. WIO-ECSN certainly used this platform effectively to formally debut its outreach and ocean literacy campaign for early career scientists in the WIO region. This was a four-day online event hosted by the United Nations Educational,...

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS. The Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST), and the Nairobi Convention are pleased to announce the Twelfth WIOMSA Scientific Symposium, which will be held in Port Elizabeth in October 2022 as a hybrid virtual/ in-person Symposium. Read the full announcement here! SYMPOSIUM DATES:...

Soondur Mouneshwar, vice-chair of WIO-ECSN, and Hellen Kizenga, a member of the network, have both been in Helgoland in Germany since the beginning of 2021 under the Nippon Foundation-POGO Centre of Excellence (NF-POGO CofE) scholarship programme which provides world-class education and training courses in the field of observational oceanography. Both scholars are based at the...

An outreach event in Zanzibar-Tanzania introduced participants to WIOMSA and its different networks, including WIO-ECS Network. The event aimed to strengthen the capacity of early career scientists in the WIO region and to reach out to early career scientists for networking purposes. The key take home message from the day was that WIO-ECSN should stand...