Prof. Matthieu Le Corre is the director of the Laboratory of Ecology and Marine Research (ECOMAR) in La Réunion, The Director of the Doctorate School of Science, Health and Technology and Director of the Masters Biodiversity and Tropical Ecosystem (BEST) Program of the University of Reunion.

Prof. Le Corre studied BSc in Biology from the University of Rennes, France and both his MSc and PhD at the University of Paris, France. Since 2001, Prof. Le Corre has led some 10 research programmes conducting studies on seabirds, tropical marine food webs and bioindicators. In his effort to generate new knowledge and improve research capacity in the region, Matthieu has supervised 8 PhD and 13 MSc students in La Réunion, Madagascar and Seychelles. He has authored over 50 publications including a chapter in book and peer reviewed articles. Professor Le Corre was awarded the 2009 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation for his project using seabird behaviour to identify biodiversity hotspots in the Indian Ocean.

This project built on the MASMA-funded project on “Seabirds as bio-indicators of tropical marine ecosystems: A regional study in the Western Indian Ocean”.

The grant provided with this award allowed him to extend his research on seabird foraging habitats using satellite telemetry at a regional scale and the data produced used to identify potential high seas Marine Protected Areas in the WIO.