Dr. Gildas Todinanahary joined IH.SM in 2004 to begin his studies in Marine and Fishery Sciences. After graduating (MSc thesis) in 2010, he worked as a temporary research assistant at the Institute, before being selected to be a PhD student for the Polyaquaculture research project.  Since his doctoral research between 2012 and 2016, Gildas has been working on coral and coral bio-ecology within the Polyaquaculture Research Unit (PRU). His PhD thesis entitled “Evaluation of the biological, economic and social potential of community based coral farming in southwestern Madagascar”, was awarded the HERA Doctoral thesis Award in 2017. The research conducted by Gildas and his team concerns critical habitats / ecosystems such as coral reefs and seagrasses. The subjects covered range from the study of biodiversity (identification of scleractins and black corals), ecology (state of health, resilience) and biology applied to the restoration and the fishery (coral farming, artificial reefs) and management tools (remote sensing, community outreach, education)