ECOLOGIST AND PYROGEOGRAPHER

As part of my teaching collaboration at the University of Antananarivo, I will undertake a highly ambitious project with Master's students. Our goal is to teach and enhance students' knowledge and skills in academic writing through a collaborative effort.

Together, we will conduct a comparative study on perceptions of landscape fires between urban and rural areas. The aim is to explore and analyze the differences in how these fires are perceived by residents in different settings, and to publish together a scientific work.

Burned area (BA) data obtained from satellite observations are often significantly underestimated when calculated using coarse-resolution sensors. In our study, we stated the hypothesis that these underestimations are predictable and can be corrected. Through the validation of our results across different time periods and geographical locations, we were able to confirm our hypothesis. Consequently, we provided a valuable tool for refining historical BA data and identifying the primary sources of error in BA detection across sub-Saharan Africa.

As a case study, we applied our methodology to correct the BA estimations for Madagascar. Our model yielded BA values that were more than three times higher than those reported by MODIS. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2023.103350 

In Mozambique, fires are less frequent compared to Madagascar. However, the main motivations behind fire usage remain similar, except for certain purposes such as maintaining a safe environment free of cobras. We anticipate that the upcoming analyses of our interviews and participatory GIS workshops will offer additional insights.

During our interactions with local communities, there is always an opportunity to address other topics. In the picture, we captured some of the reactions elicited while discussing our cultural disparities regarding natality.

During our field campaign in Mozambique, my colleagues from ESNEC (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane) invited me to give a talk at their institution. The purpose was to explain the typical work of a researcher while introducing myself, and to present the SNIS project, and first project advances. 

The presentation sparked engaging discussions and prompted numerous questions from the audience, comprising both students and lecturers.

Systematic experimental burns have been applied in Kruger National Park since the 1950s to understand the ecological role of fire and its impact on biodiversity. This experiment provides a unique opportunity for research in the field of fire ecology. Our team worked there from March to April 2023, despite the risks of being accompanied by thousands of wild animals.

In the picture, I am seen discussing the experimental burns with a SANParks guard who supervises the burning process in Skukuza.

Madagascar is a unique and exceptional country in all the possible aspects you can imagin. Rural inhabitants have used fire for centuries for different purposes, while the relationships between fire, climate and biodiversity in the open biomes that extend over most of the island remain poorly understood. To provide further insights on fire relationships with biodiversity, climate change and people's livelohoods, we sampled vegetation in more than 550 plots and we talked with around 180 people in the rural areas in three different regions in February and March 2023. 

In the picture, a kind Malagasy shows us his drawings on landscape fires.