Above picture:  Ruben Fijn releases a Sandwich Tern as part of his PhD fieldwork at “De Putten”, near Petten, The Netherlands, June 2021; photograph by Jelger Herder

The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project recently received a rather special sponsorship from a novel source.  A seabird biologist threw a graduation party and, instead of gifts, asked those attending to make a combined sponsorship, resulting in 21 ha being added to the 8500 ha (of 30 000 ha) already sponsored to help rid Marion Island of its albatross-killing House Mice.  MFM News reached out to Dr Ruben Fijn to learn more about the generous sponsorship made in his name.

Ruben writes:

“I am a seabird ecologist living and working in the Netherlands.  My main research is on the movement ecology of terns and gulls, and of Sandwich Terns in particular.  I track the movements of birds using colour bands, geolocators, VHF tags, GPS loggers and radar.  My research has taken me to French Guyana, Namibia and Antarctica, although most of my work is concentrated around the North Sea between Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom.

“Marion Island combines two lifelong passions for me: Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds and southern Africa.  Since childhood I have been fascinated by the lives of especially albatrosses, but also of petrels and penguins.  I have undertaken fieldwork in Antarctica working with Pintado or Cape Petrels, Snow Petrels, South Polar Skuas and Antarctic Cormorants, and in Namibia with my wife, Jolanda, on Damara Terns.  My research on the Sandwich Tern has led to my PhD being awarded by the University of Amsterdam in October last year”.

Ruben continues:

“In the Netherlands, PhD graduations are big parties.  It is customary that those attending bring gifts for the successful candidate.  For my PhD defence, instead of personal presents, I looked for a charity that was aimed at the conservation of seabirds.  Since the Mouse-Free Marion Project combines all my passions, I was thrilled that my friends, family and colleagues made such a generous sponsorship in my name.”

Perhaps other university graduands will follow Ruben Fijn’s example and mark their happy occasions with a sponsorship – no reason to wait for a birthday!

With thanks to Rob van Bemmelen.

Reference:

Fijn, R.C. 2024.  Tracking Terns. Year-round Movement Ecology of Sandwich Terns in a Changing Marine Environment.  PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam. 372 pp.

John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 18 January 2025

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Great-winged Petrel in its burrow on Marion Island. Watercolour by Diane Dudzik of Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) for the Conservation Campaign for Marion Island Special Project. After a photograph by Stefan Schoombie

The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean.  The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.  Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate.  For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org.