Alumni in Madagascar have been multiplying the benefits of training.
In a joint initiative, TBA teamed up with the Madagascar TBA Alumni Group (MTBA) in January 2014 to deliver training in designing quality research projects to nineteen Malagasy early career researchers and conservation scientists working for universities, research institutes, government departments, and NGOs.
The training covered skills in designing good projects, linking research to statistics, monitoring, evaluation and assessing impacts, and communication skills. The training was a follow up to an earlier training, in February 2013 that gave 18 Malagasy scientists key skills in fundraising and communicating research results.
The investment has increased the profile of MTBA and the resulting multiplier effect has been very encouraging. Just six months after the 2013 workshop, four papers had been accepted for publication, two grant applications were successful and a talk accepted for a primate conference. A further seven papers were in review and eleven project proposals had been submitted.
The MTBA has also shared their new skills with others by running seven of their own workshops, training a further 123 Malagasy conservation biologists. MTBA coordinator, Mija Andriamarovololona told us: “We were so happy about the TBA workshop, we wanted to tell the world about it and share what we’ve learned.”
