About
1st Madagascar Workshop on Conservation Genetics and Landscape Sustainability
The first edition of the Madagascar Workshop on Conservation Genetics and Landscape Sustainability aims to bridge the “conservation genomics gap” by building local expertise in population and conservation genetics and genomics. The workshop consists of an intensive 10-day hands-on training program led by experts at the intersection of conservation genomics, Madagascar’s natural history, and biodiversity. Additionally, it will serve as a platform for local young scientists and stakeholders to apply these tools to conservation, aligning with the growing demand from international funders to effectively monitor the genetic diversity of threatened species. Approximately 35 participants will gather in Amborovy (Mahajanga, Madagascar) to advance their research projects, develop connections, and learn from each other.
Workshop Goals
The workshop was developed with the goals of:
- Bridge the “Conservation Genomics Gap” & Build Local Expertise
Demystify core concepts and technical challenges over an intensive 10-day program for 35 participants, building local capacity and fostering a sustainable, locally-led community of conservation geneticists in Madagascar.
- Master the Full Research Workflow & Reproducible Science
Guide participants through every stage of conservation genomics research—from field-based sampling to data interpretation and conservation implications—while instilling standards of reproducible research using R, RMarkdown, and BASH.
- Overcome Infrastructural Barriers via High-Performance Computing
Equip participants with high-performance computing (HPC) cluster skills, expanding computational capabilities beyond local laptops and mitigating the impact of local power and internet outages.
- Deliver a Comprehensive, Holistic Curriculum
Cover classical conservation genomics pillars (genetic diversity, population structure, demographic history, inbreeding and genetic load) by integrating computational, population genetics, and conservation science.
- Foster Diversity, Collaboration, and Multidisciplinary Exchange
Bring together Master’s/PhD students and professionals from academic and conservation sectors in mixed groups, encouraging peer-to-peer cultural, technical, and scientific collaboration through lectures, workshops, and short projects.
- Use collective thinking to identify the future avenues of conservation genetics in Madagascar
Through daily seminars and regular roundtables, we intend to develop a collective, nuanced appreciation of Madagascar’s Natural History and identify key areas where conservation genetics research could be important.
Workshop Outcomes
By the end of the workshop, participants will gain knowledge and strengthen their capacity to:
Critically evaluate literature: Read, interpret, and assess scientific papers in conservation genetics and landscape genomics for evidence-based management.
Execute high-impact analyses: Perform complete, reproducible data workflows (using BASH, R, and HPC clusters) suitable for international publication.
Design independent research: Conceptualize and conduct rigorous conservation genetics projects that bridge field sampling with genomic insights.
Overcome infrastructure limits: Utilize high-performance computing to maintain analytical independence despite local connectivity constraints.
Collaborate regionally: Work within multidisciplinary teams to strengthen a self-sustaining community of conservation geneticists in Madagascar.
Instructors
Hanta Razafindraibe, Professor at the Université d’Antananarivo, ZAB department (Zoology and Animal Biodiversity), Madagascar and member of the EcoFauna association. Hanta’s research centers on Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, focusing on the ecology and conservation of endemic lemurs. As an academic leader, she actively translates her research into mentorship for next-generation conservationists.
Besoa Ranjavao, IRD-ARTS Ph.D. candidate at the Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement (CRBE), Toulouse, France, and at the Université d’Antananarivo, Madagascar. Besoa’s Ph.D. research focuses on landscape sustainability through the lens of lemur population genomics. The underlying aim is to understand how landscape configuration and dynamics affect present and past dispersal of lemur populations.
Helena Teixeira, IRD Junior Professor at the Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), France. As an evolutionary biologist, Helena is interested in the mechanisms underlying species diversification and population declines in tropical regions.
Rindra Rakotoarivony, Lecturer and Researcher at the Université d’Antananarivo, Madagascar, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Anthropobiology and Sustainable Development (Anthropobiologie et Développement Durable). Biological Anthropologist, geneticist, and environmental scientist working on human genetics and biodiversity conservation, Rindra is particularly interested in building local genomic capacity and applying field-based approaches.
Maeva Gabrielli, Postdoctoral researcher at the Instituto Tecnologico Vale, Belem, Brasil. Maeva investigates the impacts of mining activity on micro-endemic plants and endemic birds, including blue macaws. More broadly, she uses genomic approaches to investigate the processes shaping species diversification, adaptation, and demography, with a particular focus on species with restricted distributions. Her work also aims to inform the conservation of threatened and micro-endemic species.
Tanjona Ramiadantsoa, Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA & Mahaliana, Amboditsiry, Madagascar. Tanjona is a Malagasy ecologist who develops mathematical and statistical models to better understand patterns and processes of biodiversity loss. Tanjona returned to Madagascar after his postdoc in Madison in 2019 with a strong commitment to training the next generation of Malagasy scientists and facilitating the development of their quantitative skills.
George Tiley, Assistant Professor at North-Carolina State University. George is broadly interested in the evolutionary consequences of polyploidy, from local adaptation among populations of the same species with variable ploidy to how new species arise through hybridization with genome duplication or allopolyploidy. The organismal focus of his lab is on grasses and grassy ecosystems in Madagascar and the Southeastern United States, but there are also projects in the lab that address large-scale questions of plant molecular evolution across angiosperms. Computational and statistical development is focused on coalescent models in population genomics and phylogenomics, especially for reconstructing demographic histories and estimating phylogenetic networks, respectively.
Jordi Salmona, IRD researcher at the Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement (CRBE). Jordi’s research combines field and genetic approaches to support conservation efforts for critically endangered flagship species, primarily in Madagascar and in the French Pyrenees. He addresses both applied (conservation) and fundamental (evolutionary) objectives related to biodiversity and diversification processes. His projects focus on three interdependent objectives: informing the conservation of endemic species of ecological and economic importance (lemurs, rodents, carnivores, and plants), mitigating the impacts of invasive species, and fighting wildlife trafficking.
Sponsors
This workshop was made possible by an “École de Formation à la Recherche” (EFR) funding granted by the French Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). It also benefited from the support of the IRD-Laboratoire Mixte international LMI-Paysages, the Labex-CEBA (Centre d’étude de la biodiversité amazonienne), the Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement (CRBE), and the Genotoul Bioinformatic platform.