ANNABELLE CONSTANCE

I am a PhD student at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich, collaborating with the Seychelles-based public trust, the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF). Before my PhD research, I was involved in the conservation of Seychelles’ UNESCO World Heritage sites Vallée de Mai and Aldabra Atoll for over 10 years. I started my career in conservation as a project assistant and, more recently (2018), held the Projects and Science Coordinator position with SIF. I contributed to a major European Union-funded project addressing the problem of invasive alien species to preserve the ecological integrity of both UNESCO sites.
 
I was part of the first cohort for the Bachelor of Environmental Sciences degree at the University of Seychelles– a degree tailored to Small Island Developing States – where I expanded my professional and collaborative network considerably in Seychelles, the Western Indian Ocean region and Europe. I later pursued my Master and PhD studies at the University of Zurich, where I hope to build on this foundation to learn empirical research methods to support conservation.
 
The main research focus of my PhD is to improve our understanding of the dynamics and drivers of mangroves and their extent. My study investigates mangrove vegetation from the plant to the ecosystem level on the protected Aldabra Atoll of the Seychelles archipelago. I anticipate that my results will serve as a valuable baseline for atolls and other islands facing an uncertain future in the face of sea level rise and other global change impacts.
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Research interests
Time-series analysis of remotely sensed data
Island ecosystems
Coastal vegetation and processes
Mangrove ecosystems
Coastline change