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First Madagascan in 800 years of Oxford University’s history to submit a doctoral thesis, writes David Macdonald

We were proud when, in 2008, Mr Herizo Andrianandrasana came to the WildCRU to study for our Recanti-Kaplan Centre Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice – the first Madagascan ever to do so, and we were even more proud when he completed the course with a distinction. This week, still a member of the Department of Zoology but now under the wing of Kathy Willis’ Biodiversity Institute, and supported by his colleagues from the Durrell Institute, Heri became the first Madagascan to face a D.Phil. Viva in Oxford’s 800 year history.

The exam was held at the WildCRU and afterwards we took this remarkable photo which shows Herizo in full academic regalia, together with the nine 2017 WildCRU Panthers and, to make the cycle complete, Brazilian ex-Panther Daniel Rocha who also gained a Distinction in 2015 and who, last week, was accepted to start his own doctorate here.

From left to right: Vivek Tumsare (India), Holly O’Donnell (Scotland), Raffael Hickisch (Austria), Saket Agasti (India), Michael Kimaro (Tanzania), Herizo Andrianandrasana (Madagascar), Professor David Macdonald, Armando Dans Chavarria (Nicaragua), Daniel Rocha (Brazil), Nimalka Hakmana Kankanamge (Sri Lanka), Bingxin Wang (China)

What a joyous photo brimming with successes.