Welcome to Coding 4 Conservation

A year-long mentorship program in R-based data analysis and communication for Malagasy students with ongoing research projects in ecology, conservation, biodiversity science, and related fields which runs from February 2024 to January 2025.

We are pleased to announce our year-long mentorship program Coding for Conservation. This program is targeted towards Malagasy students in their third cycle or higher in conservation biology, zoology, animal biodiversity, entomology, botany, and related fields, though all are welcome to apply. In part with this program, Malagasy students will attend a week-long computational workshop, Ecological and Epidemiological Modeling in Madagascar, while also receiving one-on-one instruction in data analysis and scientific writing oriented towards the publication of their personal research projects.

Students will receive general instruction in the analysis and modeling of ecological data in a series of interactive lectures and computer-based tutorials using the open-source software R and learn to fine-tune research questions and develop clear analytical frameworks. Attendance and participation in all lessons and tutorials will be mandatory.

Additionally, students will be assigned a one-on-one instructor mentor to guide them personally in analysis and write-up of their own data over the course of the year, with the goal of submitting the work for eventual publication. We are specifically interested in selecting students with ongoing research projects and existing datasets who seek additional support in data analysis and writing a manuscript for publication.

The course will be taught primarily in English, though a subset of the faculty will be available to offer some translation into French and/or Malagasy. A working knowledge of the English language is required for admission; however, we will do our best to make the material accessible to students who find English challenging. If you have any questions about the appropriateness of your background or training for our course, either in language or in science, please do not hesitate to contact us straight away (email below).

–The ‘Coding for Conservation’ steering committee
Cara Brook, Sophia Horigan, Emily Ruhs, Angelo Andrianiaina, Santino Andry, Benjamin Chait, Hafaliana Christian Ranaivoson