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Global Biodiversity Research in Sao Tome e Principe by California Academy of Sciences

Posted on April 9, 2012

For the past 10 or 11 years, Robert Drewes, Ph. D., of the California Academy of Sciences has been leading a series of expeditions to survey the incredible (and previously incompletely analyzed) biological diversity of the islands of Sao Tome and Principe (STP) in the Gulf of Guinea, where IRF’s Dr. Ed Towle had conducted studies of the institutional infrastructure for biodiversity conservation in the early 1990’s.

 

In a refreshing display of openness and an attempt to get out the good word about conditions in these Gulf of Guinea islands,  Dr. Drewes has published an extensive series of blogs on the California Academy of Sciences web site http://www.calacademy.org/medialibrary/blogs/gulfofguinea/  illustrating some of the major accomplishments of each of the Academy’s expeditions.  In addition, there is a video presenting this general information in the form of a discussion by some of the major researchers at

 

With the initiation of the Sixth Gulf of Guinea (GG VI) expedition on March 30th, Dr. Drewes has posted another extended message about the 5th expedition and its activities (which concentrated on working with residents of the islands to develop informational materials that educate students and their parents about the uniquely valuable biodiversity of the islands). Read it

 

By coincidence one of the lead researchers on the CAS expeditions has been Dr. Tomio Iwamoto (photo at the end of this post. . . ) whose work on the current (GG VI) expedition is described in this excerpt from the blog.

Dr. Tomio Iwamoto is Curator Emeritus of our Ichthyology Department, and my good friend and flyfishing buddy.  He is a veteran of GG I and GG II and has already published two scientific papers as a result of these expeditions. He has also worked with São Tomé and Príncipe fisheries people in deepwater trawling around the islands (see Shipboard Discoveries….June 2010 blog).  During GG VI he wants to visit as many local fishing villages as he can on both islands to see what the most commonly caught fishes are.  His goal is to produce a popular guide for the fishermen themselves! This will not be a scientific publication.

Dr. Iwamoto is brother to Midori Buchanan of St. John, who has been one of the Foundation’s strongest supporters over the years.

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