I paused my PhD for 11 years to help save Madagascar’s seas0

• SCIENCE
• March 22, 2026

Ando Rabearisoa worked with local fishers to establish locally managed marine conservation areas that protect fisheries and local incomes in Madagascar. Credit: Johnson Rakotoniaina Three years into an ecological economics PhD in France, Ando Rabearisoa made a decision that would change both her life and Madagascar’s coastal ecosystems. In 2009, she abandoned her PhD studies