Category: biology

Ecology field course in Kenya

At the hottest hour, we stop at a cliff for a lunch break. It’s January in Ngangao, one of the few protected montane forests remaining in Eastern Kenya. Everyone finds a rocky seat and starts digging their backbacks for lunchboxes. I have brought fresh avocados, passion fruits and mangos from the market place. This time we found both sweet and sour varieties of passion fruit. Someone asks a half-question about nature and our Professor, Jouko Rikkinen, seizes the moment and starts lecturing about lichens and lichen symbionts. I listen, but mostly for the beauty of it all. View behind him stretches hundreds of kilometers to the lowlands. Wind is soft and Ken, Darius and Mwadime are asleep and snore slowly. Swallows, such as barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), greet us with their spectacular airshow. I wonder if they are the same to which I bid farewell a couple of months back in Finland.

Jambo! I’m Maria Reiman, a Master’s student at the Master’s Programme in Integrative Plant Sciences. With the help of HiLIFE Trainee Conference Grant I was able to participate in Flora and vegetation of East Africa –field course (IPS-175) in Kenya in January 2023. In this blogpost, I’m going to share some of my key learnings as well as plant treasures of Taita Hills.

The course was organized by the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, and our teachers on the field were Prof. Jouko Rikkinen, Mr. Mwadime Mjomba and Mr. Darius Kimuzi. The aim of the course is to learn about plant biodiversity in the area as well as climatic and environmental factors determining it. The Taita Research Station, established by the University of Helsinki in 2011, served as a base to our field course. It is located at Taita Hills in southeastern Kenya, in the village of Wundanyi. The area has attracted many scientists from different fields but especially biologists and geographers as it is a very unique area biogeographically. Taita Hills are like a miniature of East-Africa with an elevation range from 500 to 2200 meters and ecosystems including dry grasslands to moist montane rainforests.

Learning in the field

Nature was our classroom for the week. Every day, we would go to a different mountain, walk up the slopes and wonder at everything around us. Picture a group of students and teachers walking very slowly, taking pictures, squatting and pointing at something. Our guide and driver Ken was always sighing like “I just can’t with these botanists…”.

Mountains are an exception to Africa’s very flat general landscape. This goes back to 100 million years ago when the ancient supercontinent, Gondwana, broke up. South America, Antarctica, Madagascar, Australia and India separated but the remaining middle part – Africa – didn’t go through massive mountain formations unlike the other continents. However, these movements formed Eastern Arc –mountain chain of Kenya and Tanzania. Taita Hills are the northernmost mountain range of Eastern Arc.

Taita Hills are one of the most important biodiversity hotspots of Africa. They are known for their moist forests and unique flora and fauna. The moist rainforests support high diversity of life. One explanation to this is that because water and temperature are not limiting factors, species can focus on competition with other species, leading to speciation and evolution. For example, in dry and only seasonally warm Finnish forests, there are usually only a few dominant tree species but Kenyan rainforests host tens or even close to a hundred tree species. During the field course, I learned at least 176 new species (or if not learned then at least took notes and pictures).

Rainforest’s canopy is multi-storey as plants compete for light. Taita Hills used to be a vast rainforest area but due to changing climate and its consequence, anthropogenic pressure, there are only a dozen forest patches left. Most are the size of a few hectares and some are 70-190 hectares. Many species have evolved in Taita Hills and are thus so called endemic species. The mountain peaks have acted like islands and some species have their own subspecies for every mountain peak due to diversification.

People’s livelihoods, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are interdependent

Taita Hills, like all mountains, provide many vital ecosystem services for humans. One of the most important is water. Water’s journey to Taita begins 200 km eastwards from The Indian Ocean. Moist trade winds flow towards Taita and condense to water when they hit the eastern forested slopes of Taita. In this sense, the mountains act as water towers. Montane forests capture and provide water for vast areas and households far below in the lowlands.

Deforestation of montane forests and climate change have led to decreased water security in the area. Clear-cutted forest land doesn’t catch water as well as montane forests and their vegetation would and ‘water tower effect’ is lost. Rains have become unpredictable and sparse. This has devastating consequences for humans and wildlife. When humans struggle, questionable methods are used to meet the living costs. Even more forest is cut to get livelihood from selling timber and firewood. This leads to a vicious circle where water is even scarcer. However, local authorities are taking action to stop the deforestation of remaining forests. These include e.g. guidance of agroforestry methods and reforestation with native tree species.

In Taita Hills, there are some reference areas like Mount Kasigau (1000 m up to 1600m), previously inhabited higher at the hills but people moved downhill when the issue with water arose. Currently, only the lower hills of Mount Kasigau are inhabited and there are no plantations. Mount Vuria (500 m up to 2200m) however, is largely under human pressure and deforestation is ongoing. Optimally, Mount Vuria would look like Mount Kasigau. On our hike at Mount Vuria we witnessed forest cutting and many invasive tree species. Invasive tree species and their plantations are a huge problem in East Africa. For example, Eucalyptus-plantations cause many wildfires because their bark is very fire-prone while the tree itself is very fire-resistant.

Native and biodiverse montane forests maintain functioning ecosystems which in turn mean secured water supply and livelihoods for people. Nowadays, people are moving downhill to the lowlands which is good in terms of water security. However, this has increased the number of human-wildlife -conflicts when residential areas and wildlife territories overlap. Elephants and baboons can destroy crops but they are undeniably vital for lowland ecosystems and their ecosystem services. As always, the co-existence of humans and the rest of the natural world is complicated but the search for compromise is a necessity.

The joy and anger of finding things out

As botanists, we were of course very interested in individual plant species of Taita Hills. In addition, we gained a lot of insight about ecosystem dynamics and societies of the tropics that could never be learned from the books. We discovered new species, ecosystems and phenomena every day. The more we learned and understood, the wider our view of the natural world got. Access to this type of knowledge is a privilege that correspondingly means responsibility.

Developed countries such as Finland, produce most of the greenhouse gases yet the consequences are currently mostly suffered in the developing countries such as Kenya. Developed countries must learn to live within the planetary boundaries e.g. by carrying their responsibility, reducing emissions and stopping overconsumption. Actors of the developed countries – states, companies and inhabitants – have the resources for these actions and there aren’t any acceptable excuses for not acting. Liveable future for all lifeforms of the Earth is secured and determined only by actions done in this decade (IPCC 2023).

Getting a wider perspective of global change, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, meant anger caused by injustice, lack of actions and already unstoppable consequences such as deaths of people and endemic species. We are devastated by drought and deforestation in the area, which were largely caused by climate change or its consequential human pressure. Defending and fighting for the beautiful but threatened biodiversity and ecosystems of Taita Hills are also our duty. Our realities are linked and swallows migrating from their overwintering sites in Kenya to their breeding grounds in Finland are an evident symbol of that.

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Big thanks to station staff, teachers, faculty, steering board and everybody who made this field course possible. We students really appreciate this as we know that field courses are constantly threatened with tightening budgets. Thank you for understanding that skilled biologists are made in the field, not classrooms!

PS:

• Fellow students and dear friends of mine have also written HiLIFE-blogposts about Kenya. Gabriela Lemoine wrote a post about her experiences with more reflection e.g. about native and invasive species as well as our teacher’s, Mr. Darius Kimuzi’s, innovative agroforest farm. Lola Fernández Multigner took part in Human-Wildlife Conflicts in East Africa –field course (EEB-306) organized also by the University of Helsinki. She describes the complicated relationship between elephants and humans in this post.
• Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden has many East African plants. For example, you can find Saintpaulia teitensis in the African Violet Room, Ficus thonningii in the Dry Forest Room and Coffea fadenii in the Rainforest House! Pictures of these are earlier in the text.
• Water’s Journey, a documentary (2022) about Taita Hills can be found in Yle Areena. Beautiful nature, daily life and current topics are displayed magnificently. Watch Water’s Journey here.

References

EAMCEF. (12.8.2014). Eastern Arc Mountains. The Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund (EAMCEF). [Webpage]. Available: https://eamcef.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/eastern-arc-mountains/

IPCC. (2023). Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 35-115, doi: 10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647

Kaasalainen, Ulla. (No date). Taita Hills and Mt. Kasigau. Lichens from East Africa and elsewhere. [Blog]. Available: https://lichens.academy/taita-hills-and-mt-kasigau-kenya/

Laine, Toni. (2022). Water’s Journey. [Documentary Film]. Helsinki: Wild Heart Productions Oy. Available: https://areena.yle.fi/1-61218224

Niemelä, T. (2011). Vihreä Afrikka: kasveja ja kasvillisuutta. Norrlinia; Vol. 23. Luonnontieteellinen keskusmuseon kasvimuseo.

Hi, we are Rafaela, Victoria, and Johanna, and we are all recipients of the HiLIFE conference grant. In June, we travelled to Glasgow, UK to attend the European Society of Human Genetics conference. 

We are all students of Marco Savarese’s lab (Folkhälsan Research Center) studying genotype-phenotype correlations in rare inherited muscle diseases. Thus, ESHG was a great opportunity for us to learn about the newest, most cutting-edge research in genetics, and to start building connections in the field. 

This was the first international scientific conference experience for all of us, and thus it was an extremely valuable opportunity to gain professional experience in networking, poster presenting, and scientific discussion, early on in our careers. 

The conference offered special opportunities for newer members of the human genetics community, including events organized by ESHG Young Geneticist Committee (ESHG-Y). As first-time attendees, their events and workshops felt extremely helpful and informative and provided excellent opportunities to connect with our peers.  

Overall, human genetics is a broad topic, which was reflected in the wide variety of research topics covered at the conference. Some of the reoccurring topics included AI-based solutions for variant interpretation, variant classification methods, and multiomics applications in genetics research. We wanted to highlight a few topics that we found most interesting and relevant in our work with rare genetic muscular diseases.  

Artificial intelligence-based solutions in human genetics 

Implementing AI based solutions is a hot topic in genetics, and many of the conference presentations reflected this excitement. Among the most interesting ones were a talk about the Eye2gene project and a poster about the Gestaltmatcher database.  

The Eye2gene project was inspired by clinicians diagnosing inherited retinal disease from eye scans. The disease causes specific patterns of damage to the eye. For the clinicians, it takes years of experience to be able to recognize these patterns. Thus, there are few doctors capable of reaching such diagnosis, causing delays in patient care. The Eye2gene method uses AI to interpret these eye scans, and the results show reliable performance. This method could not only speed up diagnosis but also reduce human error and variability of analysis from clinician to clinician, making the diagnosis more precise. 

In relation to our work with rare muscular diseases, the Eye2gene project is a great example of how improved understanding of the phenotype can aid with understanding the genetic background of the diseases as well. Although this approach would probably be much more difficult to implement in MRI imaging used in muscular diseases, it is an intriguing potential future application.   

The Gestaltmatcher is a similar AI-based approach to medical imaging analysis. This database allows an authorized user to upload medical images associated with rare diseases. The AI of the database groups similar images together to find groups of patients with common phenotypes. A major challenge in rare genetic diseases is often the small number of patients. Thus, it is extremely valuable to be able to share data and to gather a database as large as possible from the limited number of patients with a similar phenotype. Larger databases allow for better understanding of the disease phenotype and the genetic background of the disease, and ultimately, to develop treatments for even the rarest of genetic diseases. 

Gestaltmatcher showed that AI has an enormous potential in assisting clinicians and researchers in pattern detection in patient cohorts. This is an asset we should consider taking advantage of in our group’s muscle disease patient cohorts to better understand genotype-phenotype relationships in these diseases. 

Improved sequencing methods and multiomics approaches 

Multiomics approaches were a reoccurring topic at ESHG and it was featured in several presentations and posters throughout the event. In the context of genetics, the term multiomics generally refers to the practice of combining genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and sometimes epigenomics. Multiomics has many applications: it can be used for interpretation of variant pathogenicity or to uncover novel disease-causing variants, for example. A presentation at the conference revealed a method of combining genome sequencing with proteomics data to help uncover novel causative variants or reach a final classification for variants of uncertain significance. Epigenomic and transcriptomic approaches were also featured.   

The use of newer, more advanced sequencing approaches, such as long-read sequencing, is also growing rapidly, with regards to both DNA and RNA. In particular, targeted long-read sequencing is being used to diagnose specific diseases since it includes only genes that have a known association with a disease, making it cheaper than whole genome long-read sequencing, but more accurate and precise than traditional gene panels.  

The presentations at the conference clearly emphasized the advantages of multiomics approaches and new sequencing methods. Clearly, these are growing topics in human genetics, and thus, it was useful to hear stories of how these methods have been implemented in practice. This helps us to start developing an understanding of how these methods could be most effectively implemented in the context of muscular diseases.  

This conference experience allowed us to learn about many new topics and to broaden our understanding of human genetics. It was inspiring to hear about the outstanding research and the future of genetics. This trip left us inspired and even more excited and motivated to continue working on our projects with newly developed skills, knowledge, and connections. On top of that, we had a wonderful time together in sunny Glasgow. 

We would like to thank HiLIFE for making this trip possible! 

Jambo! I’m Gabi. Currently a second year masters’ student of the Integrative Plant Science programme. In January I went on a three week expedition to Kenya, far from the Finnish winter, to participate in two field courses. Together with my fellow students we followed various experts around to learn about the natural world in Kenya. In my first week I went with aspiring botanists to the Taita Hills research station in South East Kenya. Where the collaboration between the University of Helsinki is most apparent when you stand in front of the small but expertly built sauna, which seems oddly out of place in the mountainous region of Kenya. In the second and third week I went traipsing through the Kenyan savannah learning about human-wildlife conflicts under the guidance of three seasoned conservationists.

 

Week 1 – The secret life of botanists

What do botanists do? They look at plants. And that is exactly what we did. Adorned with a hat and lathered in sunscreen, we hiked up various hills and mountains stopping every 2 to 3 metres to admire any photosynthesizers, both big and small. The forests hold a wide range of unique plants, from the small Commelina benghalensis with its blue petals to the tall Newtonia buchananii tree with its sturdy buttress roots that support an impressive trunk reaching far above our heads. 

Taita Hills is an important water catchment area. Water captured here supplies large areas of the country. Therefore, changes that occur in this area have far reaching consequences beyond the local towns. Due to the persisting drought people are forced to seek resources from the forest. Human disturbances include collecting firewood and harvesting plants for livestock fodder. On Mount Vuria, one such harvested species is Dracaena afromontana. Few individuals remain in areas that used to foster an abundance of the narrow stemmed shrub with its long and slender leaves. Besides this, the spread of introduced species such as Lantana camara presents a real nuisance. They will sprout back when they are cut down and are fire resistant.

There was a clear distinction between forests that had a high human disturbance compared to relatively intact forests. In disturbed forests we encountered more non-native plants, such as Eucalyptus spp. and Grevillea robusta, both from Australia. They are important sources of timber. Yet, in these arid regions, Eucalyptus trees are considered problematic for forest diversity. As part of its ecology, a Eucalyptus tree sheds its bark, which increases the risk of wildfires and their spread. Moreover, its leaf litter changes the soil pH to become more acidic, which favours its own propagation, but disadvantages local species. 

Aside from visiting the forests, we were invited to Darius’ farm, one of our field guides. His sloping plot of land left us in awe. He implements different intercropping strategies and combines improved and traditional crop varieties; the former for the yields and the latter to maintain a diverse gene pool. His approach is in stark contrast with the large monoculture plantations of sisal (Agave sisalana). Originally from Mexico, this fibre crop has been planted in rows as far as the eye can see. We drove past kilometres of saw-edged rosettes that have replaced native trees, shrubs and herbs.

After a week of vigorous hiking and plant inspecting, we ended the course with a feast and a bonfire. We said farewell to our field guides, the station staff and Taita Hills. With the first week behind me and the second week about to start the focus of my expedition shifted from flora to fauna.

 

Week 2 – Putting the wild in wildlife

All facts are fun but some are more fun than others. Did you know that cheetahs have non-retractable claws? They are so fast that they need maximum grip when chasing prey. Did you know that the aardvark is closely related to the elephant? After spending two weeks with animal enthusiasts I’ve stocked up on some of these fun facts. The one I want to share most of all is the propeller tail of Africa’s most dangerous herbivore, the hippopotamus.

While defecating hippos will swing their tails energetically. In the water this results in an even distribution of nutrients, which is appreciated by fish and other aquatic organisms. By bringing nutrients from terrestrial to aquatic systems hippos fulfil an important ecological role, one that fishermen value in particular. On land, this Jackson Pollock technique is used to mark their territories and, unintentionally, to entertain the two jeeps packed with ecology students. They are very territorial and males will fight savagely to defend their patches of land and water. I don’t recommend getting caught between one of these grim neighbour disputes. Conflicts between humans and hippos arise when humans unknowingly cross paths with hippos. Hippos will not shy away from confrontation and running away won’t do you much good as they have no trouble keeping up. 

You may already know that vultures are excellent scavengers. But did you know that vultures have great vision too? While gliding in the air they will keep an eye on their peers. If one swoops down, having spotted a recently deceased or dying animal, others will follow suit. So where there is one vulture there will soon be dozens. Due to a very acidic stomach (pH ≈ 1), they are resistant to various diseases, even anthrax. Sadly, they are experiencing drastic population declines, in large part because of secondary poisoning. This happens when people poison livestock carcasses in retaliation against carnivores such as lions, leopards and cheetahs. As vultures have a slow reproduction rate, individuals that die are not readily replaced. 

Continuing with this more sombre side of these ‘fun’ facts. When giraffe calves are born they drop from a height of 2 metres. In rare cases, calves die from that impact. Last one. Spotted hyenas have a very curious social hierarchy. Mothers can raise up to two cubs which are born with their eyes open and their pointy teeth already poking out. Soon after birth they fight for the position of dominant cub. The outcome of these first contests determines their social standing and impacts many aspects of their life.

 

Week 3 – Caught in the middle

In addition to learning about animal ecology, we set out to shed some light on the issues that arise when animals and humans meet. We wanted to learn from the locals how certain species cause conflict and what is being done to mitigate these issues. The communities we visited live in close proximity to wildlife. While most locals appreciate the animals and understand their role as a high-profit tourist attraction, large carnivores endanger livelihoods by killing goats and cattle. In contrast to Europe, where we have food security, in these parts anything that threatens people’s livestock poses a serious risk for survival. Therefore, it is not surprising that these attacks lead to retaliatory killing of carnivores. Indubitably, as conservationists we would prefer the animals to be spared, but it is rather arrogant to tell the locals that they should not defend their livelihoods. Frequently, farmers and pastoralists lack resources and know-how. Hence, conservation efforts often focus on showing locals how to better protect their livestock by fortifying their enclosures. Efforts also include informing them on the ecological consequences of poisoning carcasses and retaliatory killings. More controversial methods include building electric fences to keep animals in or out of certain areas. 

However, conservation is not as straightforward as a conflict between farmers and animals. There are many different stakeholders with their own interests that do not always align with the preservation of wildlife. Besides local subsistence farmers or pastoralists, you have landowners that determine who has access to the land and usually cater to the tourism industry. Not to mention the governmental bodies that make land use policies and add a layer of bureaucracy. On the other side, the integral part of this web is wildlife itself. They require space, which is encroached by the growing population and changes in land use. In the middle you will find the conservationist that is trying to consider the stakeholders while safeguarding the needs of wildlife. In many cases, rather than being a human-wildlife conflict it turns out to be a human-human conflict.

 

All in all

It has been an invaluable experience, both culturally and academically. I’ve been enriched by the colourful welcome from the Maasai and Turkana tribes in Leikiji, the banter of the field guides in Taita Hills and the remarkable endemic flora and fauna of the African savannahs. Many thanks to both the IPS and EEB master programmes for offering these precious field courses IPS-175 and EEB-306. Thanks to the HiLIFE Trainee Conference Grant that has eased the financial burden of this three week venture. And thank you reader for reaching the end of this condensed retelling of my African adventures!

Gabriela Lemoine

There are things you cannot truly learn by just reading about them. You can get acquainted with the concept, but if you want an in-depth understanding of it, you need to get rid of the distance and the intermediate messengers and go observe directly with your own eyes. As a biologist, I’ve acquired most of my scientific knowledge by studying. Now I’m studying a MSc degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Helsinki, where I’m doing very variated courses that allow me to learn both about the underlying ecological and evolutionary processes that shape nature as we know it, as well as the current climate and biodiversity crisis and what can we do to stop it. I’m now getting more and more interested in the branch of conservation and applied science, which involves a human and social dimension. The required degree of empathy and comprehension in this area is hard to get if you are distanced from the environment and situation.

I recently had one of the most insightful experiences of my life. With the help of the HiLIFE conference grant, I went to Kenya for two weeks to take part in a course about human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in East Africa, which is part of my MSc programme and was organized by one of my teachers, Mar Cabeza. Before leaving, I had to prepare a brief presentation about one of the most conflictive species in the area: the African elephant. I talked to my mom about this presentation, and she was honestly surprised: “How can such a kind, smart and nice grass-eating animal be the source of conflict?”. My mom loves elephants, it would be a dream for her to see one in the wild. I love them too, of course, and I know they are essential for their ecosystem, aside from being beautiful. I could observe them in Kenya and it was a magical moment that I will never forget. But what I will also never forget is what we heard when we asked local people about them. “I like all animals, but I’m terrified of elephants”, a girl said.

The views from our campsite. On the other side of the fence, we could see giraffes and elephants

 

As a key part of the course, we organised focus groups and interviews with local people to hear about the HWC first-hand. This girl had some scary experiences with aggressive elephants that she couldn’t just forget about. Even though we had seen electric fences targeted at elephants all over the region, they are strong and smart animals, and they keep finding ways to trespass them. The risk of having a face-to-face with an elephant is high enough to have the population concerned. And this is not even the major source of conflict with elephants. These animals cause huge losses by crop raiding and infrastructure destruction, especially water structures like dwells. Droughts like the current one in Laikipia force animals to search for water and food in human settlements, so these incidents become more frequent. In communities with a subsistence economy, this is a serious threat to the population. Situations like this one increase tensions between the people and the wildlife and are counterproductive for conservation.

Some colleagues (and me, bottom-left) and local people participating in one of the activities during the focus group

 

At the same time, elephants might not be very happy about some human activities, I thought. Elephants migrate long distances, so when they find an obstacle impeding this movement, it’s logical to think they will try to overcome it. They can’t just decide to stop a behaviour shaped by evolution over thousands of years just because lately humans are building and expanding more than before. In Laikipia, several landowners have built elephant fences around their huge properties, often the elephants being more of an excuse than the actual reasons. Conflicts between different stakeholders (including farmers, nomad shepherds, ranch owners and private conservancies, among others) over the uses of and rights over the territory play a big role in determining the placement and extension of the fences. Consequently, the design of this alleged solution to HWC attends very little to what is actually needed, and, predictably, it fails to prevent any conflict. This doesn’t mean that elephant fences are useless. Maybe the small village we visited would be a safer place if it was surrounded by an elephant fence. Unfortunately, effective solutions are not usually that easy to implement.

The landscape at the community we visited in Laikipia

 

It is very easy, from a distance, to oversimplify conflicts like this one, where we search for “good” and “bad” characters among the stakeholders. There will always be interests with which we empathize more or less and that can lead us to mistakenly think that some perspectives or opinions are less relevant or not worth taking into consideration. As biologists, we have a tendency to talk about the relevance of conservation from an ecological point of view. It is a truth that elephants are ecosystem engineers and that they play a huge ecological role. Without them, the savanna wouldn’t look like it does, and all surrounding species would be affected in an unpredictable but guaranteed chain effect. We know we need to conserve elephants, that is our position as scientists, and we see this as such a big truth that we sometimes forget to consider other needs. But conservation is an essentially human discipline: we decide to conserve, what to conserve, when, where and, maybe most importantly, how to do it. It attends to our needs, it comes from us, and ignoring how people are affected by it would be a mistake.

The elephants we saw in front of our campsite, seen through my binoculars

 

“The people that are less to blame for global change are the ones that are suffering the worst consequences”

This is something one of our teachers said, and in this course, it stopped being just an idea that I heard. It became a reality that I could see with my own eyes. I got to see the dry landscape, observe the wildlife, hear about the conflicts from the locals and discuss and put together all the information we were receiving. Altogether, this course has reshaped my way of seeing conservation and completely changed my perspective. And I think this new point of view will make me a better scientist and conservationist in the future.

This has been, in a nutshell, and leaving many things out, my experience in this amazing course. Thanks for reading me! And thank you to HiLIFE for helping me join this course.

Lola Fernández Multigner