Help spread the word in Developing Countries

The FBA Sponsorship Scheme

The FBA is striving to create stronger links with freshwater scientists in less developed countries through a special sponsorship scheme. We are offering current members the opportunity to support a potential member in countries where the equivalent cost of the FBA membership is beyond the reach of many scientists.

Recipients would enjoy all the benefits of FBA membership but specially tailored to their circumstances. For example this would include sending publications and other communications by email and greater use of the website for information sharing. The only cost to the recipient would be to maintain and access an appropriate email account.

The sponsored member would be asked to further the aims of the FBA in ways appropriate to their situations, and evidence of such involvement will be reported on a regular basis. For example the FBA would like to encourage the holding of scientific meetings and discussion forums in appropriate locations or via the internet.

The cost to the sponsoring member is the same as an Individual Membership fee at £35 per beneficiary per year (irrespective of whether the beneficiary is a student). There is no restriction on the number of beneficiaries that an individual can sponsor and the sponsor will be under no obligation to sponsor more than one year’s membership.

Sponsors will not be matched to individual beneficiaries, but can propose a specific individual (or individuals) whom they consider would be appropriate for addition to the scheme.

The names and activities of beneficiaries will be listed each year in FBA News. Sponsors’ names will also be listed, although sponsors can remain anonymous if they wish.

Initially, we are trialling this initiative in sub-Saharan Africa, and if successful we will extend it to other parts of the world.

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It's easy to sponsor

If you would like to become involved in this programme, please complete and return the sponsorship registration form.

There are a number of candidates ready to be sponsored now.

» Sponsorship Form – PDF-File, 30.1 KB

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Meet a sponsored member

Deonatus Chitamwebwa

I was born in a peninsular village 58 years ago on the shores of Lake Victoria, about 50 km west of Mwanza City, Tanzania. My academic qualifications include a diploma in fisheries from Kunduchi Fisheries Institute (1974), Dar es Salaam, a BSc in Chemistry and Marine Biology from the University of Dar es Salaam (1979), a P-G Certificate in
Limnology from the Institute of Limnology, Vienna (1980) and an MSc in Fisheries Biology and Management from the University College of North Wales, Bangor (1984).

From July 1974 to June 1976 I worked as a fisheries field officer in Kagera Region then as a fisheries officer at Kigoma (July 1979 to August 1983); and as fisheries research officer (August 1983 to date), being one of the founding research officers of the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute
(TAFIRI). Through transfers I have been able to work at all the three great lakes of East Africa: Tanganyika (1979-1987 and 1992-2004), Malawi (1987-1990) and Victoria (1990-1992 and 2005 to date).

My main interests are in fish biology, limnology and environmental changes. I have participated in two regional projects on Lake Tanganyika - FAO/FINNIDA Lake Tanganyika Research and GEF/UNDP Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project. Other projects include CLIMLAKE and CLIMFISH conducted by Belgian institutes in collaboration with Tanzanian and Zambian fisheries institutes. Currently, I am involved in a regional project - Implementation of a Fisheries Management Project (IFMP) on Lake Victoria and research on wetlands of Mara River (Tanzania) and Nyando River (Kenya).

I have attended quite a number of symposia, workshops, and seminars within Central and East Africa and abroad. Some of my contributions to research are:

• Chitamwebwa, D.B.R. 1999. Meromixis, stratifi cation and internal waves in Kigoma waters of Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia 407:59-64.
• Kudhongania, A.W. and Chitamwebwa, D.B.R. 1995. Impact of environmental change, species introduction and ecological interactions on the fi sh stocks of Lake Victoria, pp. 16-32. In: Pitcher, T.J. and Hart, P.J.B. (eds), The Impact of Species Change in African Lakes, London: Chapman and Hall 601 pp.
• Plisnier, P.D., Chitamwebwa D., Mwape L., Tshibangu, K., Langenberg, V. and Coenen E. 1999. Limnological annual cycle inferred from physical-chemical fl uctuations at three stations of Lake Tanganyika. Hydrobiologia 407:45-58