Ascension : Conservation Weekly - By Susanna Musick
Submitted by The Islander (Conservation Office) 27.09.2007 (Article Archived on 11.10.2007)

AEIOU Contractors on Ascension

Alan Mills and Edsel Daniel are on island helping the Conservation Department and other AIG members with our GIS (Geographic Information System), the Ascension Island Environmental Operations Utility (AEIOU). This GIS system helps the Conservation Department record and utilise monitoring data to map the distribution and population trends of birds, plants, turtles and other wildlife on the island. Other AIG departments use the system for mapping things like road traffic accidents and rat bait boxes. The AEIOU system is also used at Two Boats School to help children learn about wildlife and geography on Ascension. If you’d like to learn more about AEIOU, come take the system for a test drive in the Conservation Centre.

Grouper update: Last week the Conservation Department sent samples of the diseased grouper to our research partner Dr. Wolfgang Vogelbein. A special thank-you goes out to Major Rob Light, Mike Hughes, Frances Dixon, Sue Kelly, Mark Pearson, Dr. Alex Wonner and AIG Hospital staff for assisting with the collection and shipping of the specimens.

Thanks: We’d like to extend another big thank-you to Charles and the Environmental Health team for helping out Conservation last week with transportation!