Community - Educational Scholarship

Each year, Blue Ventures awards a number of scholarships to university students in two of our host nations, training them in SCUBA diving, marine science and conservation research.

To help increase capacity to effectively manage coastal areas in our host nations, Blue Ventures runs a scholarship programme that brings university students and recent graduates to its project sites in Andavadoaka and Pulau Tioman located in Madagascar and Malaysia respectively.

For six weeks, the students attend in-depth classes in SCUBA diving, marine science and research methods. Students also learn about local ecosystem types and the importance of keeping marine resources healthy and productive.

Madagascar

Most conservation studies in Madagascar concentrate on terrestrial species, therefore the Indian Ocean Marine Scholarship Programme is an important and much needed educational tool that contributes to Madagascar’s ability to protect its marine resources. Past participants in the programme have gone on to work for national and international conservation groups operating in the country.

Students accepted into the programme receive round-trip travel from the city of Tulear to Andavadoaka, six weeks of food and lodging, free use of SCUBA and snorkelling equipment and daily lessons in marine research techniques, species identification, diving and conservation planning.

Malaysia

Blue Ventures Malaysia (BVM) work with the University of Kebansaan Malaysia to offer a two month scholarship to 2-4 marine science students every year. As well as getting involved with the surveying and school programs, the students continue each other’s work on socio-economic monitoring in all the villages around the island. Information and data is also shared with University of Malaya, WWF-Malaysia and Malaysian Nature Society.

The scholarships are amongst the first of their kind in each country, and are designed to give students and young conservationists hands-on experience working on community-centred marine conservation projects.

For more information about the Scholarship Programme and how to apply, please click here.

We have collected a sample of the testimonials of some of our Indian Ocean Scholars to give an idea of the positive impact a Blue Ventures scholarship has.

Please click on 'read more' under each name to find out their story.