I was very excited this month to welcome a new face to the team as the new Assistant Marine Biologist arrived from Guernsey – Miss Josie Chandler.
Following a fond farewell to Vaidas, who has decided to return home after three years of incredible work here at Gili Lankanfushi, it was time for us to look forward to the future.
Settling in: Josie, our new Marine Biologist |
Josie is no stranger to the Maldives, as she joins us from Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru where she worked as an intern in the Marine Discovery Centre focusing on turtle rehabilitation and reef restoration. Her first role within the Maldives however was in Lhaviyani atoll, where she was the first Science Officer to be based at Korallion Lab. Here she studied the territoriality of butterflyfish as part of her bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology at Newcastle University, UK.
Josie also has reef restoration experience having worked with Biorock technologies amongst other environmental initiatives in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia with the Gili Eco Trust. With her many and varied experiences working within marine conservation around the world, she will no doubt be a great asset to the Marine Biology team here at Gili Lankanfushi.
Here’s a few words from Josie:
“I’m excited to be working for an eco-resort which has such a great environmental focus; proactively implementing so many initiatives to help to preserve and improve the natural surroundings“
So far she’s settling in well with the whole team and is learning quickly! Within her first few weeks I have been keeping her busy guiding guest snorkel trips and maintaining our coral nursery as well as preparing for the One Nation Coral Revival event that will take place this weekend on Vilingili! More on that to follow soon!
Please join me in welcoming Josie to the team!