Harrison Institute
(Sevenoaks, United Kingdom)
The Institute - The Harrison Institute has nearly 20 years experience of working with Myanmar universities in capacity building and collaborative research in the biodiversity sciences. This includes two Darwin Initiative projects supported by the UK government and a range of others supported by funding agencies such as the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), The Rufford Foundation, and Fauna and Flora International. As such, it provides expertise to the MuEuCAP Erasmus+ project, helping wherever possible to facilitate and promote the programme.
The Institute was founded in 1930 as the Harrison Zoological Museum, in 1971 its zoological collections of over 61,000 scientific specimens (42,000 mammals and 19,000 birds) were recognised as being of national and international importance and it became a UK Charitable Trust (No 268830).
Subsequently, it changed its operating name to Harrison Institute and today runs a diverse range of international projects in (1) biodiversity research, (2) capacity building, (3) community-based conservation and (4) environmental education.
The Institute’s biodiversity research primarily focuses on mammals and birds. Geographically, most of the Institute’s studies take place in the tropics and subtropics of South-east and southern Asia, Arabia and Africa. Outputs include over 350 papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, with additional monographs on aspects of the mammal fauna of Arabia and Asia.
Institute staff have jointly described 26 mammal species new to science (bats and rodents) from Asia, Arabia and Africa and regularly contribute to IUCN Red List reviews.
Since 2001, the Institute has helped raise over $2.2 million in external grants and invested heavily in training scientists and students in Asia and Africa, including 20 MSc and PhD students from Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UK, Vietnam, and Zambia.
Meanwhile, the Harrison Institute’s community-based conservation project on the Ayeyarwady River was the winner of Myanmar’s ‘Best Community Involvement in Tourism' 2017 award. Staff lead workshops to train
local communities in a range of skills. These include everything from how to observe and conserve wildlife responsibly, to hosting national and international ecotourists. They also provide educational programmes for children on aspects of environmental protection and promote the environmental message by communicating through the local media, including radio, TV, online and in the printed press.
The Institute Team - includes:
Dr (Mr) Paul Bates, MuEuCAP Project Manager, Director of the Harrison Institute, UK and scientist at the Institute of Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research (DIB)...more
Ms Beatrix Lanzinger, Project Manager of Community-based conservation programme, Myanmar...more
Mr Malcolm Pearch, Trust Manager and Researcher...more.
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