As many know, I'm currently about to start a project on a species of spider that may very well be one of the most endangered on the planet,

My team for this project consists of Fifaliana Andriamiravo, Romario Nasondrotra and Bien Tanosy, three young local scientists from Mahajanga University. Often the stumbling block in higher education in tropical countries is the flat fee that must be paid at the end of study to submit their projects and graduate, They have been in limbo for some time regarding the fees and a collaborator, 400,000 Ariary ~£100. . 10,000 Ariary is a good days wage in the region. Minus costs of food and living you're looking at a pretty big task to get the money together.

I will be leading them on the project for four weeks and assisting with their data collection and analysis for their thesis projects, we are all on the project voluntarily for the good of science (and to conduct their research projects). Had i known the situation I would have applied for this with my funders. Having met the three of them and spent six weeks already with Bien working at the forest site, I think it would be a nice touch at the end of this project when I meet with the professor at the university, to be able to pay off their fees for completing the degree.

If we raise this money, which relatively is not a huge amount to all my friends and family in the U.K, it can have a huge impact on the development of science in the area and the capacity of local scientists, something I'm very happy about.

LETS GET THREE MORE MALAGASY SCIENTISTS GRADUATED

Please do help out, I will check on the status of this when I return from the forest and will be unable to see how its gone over the last few weeks but will get it sorted before I leave! Please share it around in my absence!