Alvin Chelliah

Marine Scientist, Reef Check Course Director, Green Fins Assessor Trainer, Senior Programme Manager of Reef Check Malaysia in Tioman.

Alvin Chelliah

I am a Marine Scientist by training, graduating from Universiti Malaysia Sabah with a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science, and then obtaining a Master’s degree in the same field from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. I joined Reef Check Malaysia in 2011 working on training EcoDivers and conducting surveys around the country. My role as Reef Check Course Director and Green Fins Assessor Trainer takes me around the country to conduct training and assessments for dive centres and government agencies. In 2013 after conducting reef resilience surveys, we started a long term program called Cintai Tioman to address local threats on Tioman island. The program is managed by a team of four and its main objectives are to reduce local impacts to the reefs, to build capacity of the local community, and to involve the community in coral reef conservation and management.

Marine-Scientist-in-Tioman
Marine Scientist trained in Universiti Malaysia Sabah and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and working for Reef Check Malaysia in Tioman.
Conducting reef check survey to understand the coral reef ecosystem: I have been diving since I was in high school and still loving every moment underwater. Photo: Thomas G.

Since 2014 we have set up recycling operations on the island and collected over 50,000 kg of plastic bottles, aluminum cans, batteries and glass bottles to be recycled. they produced guidelines for construction and sewage management and introduced Responsible Tourism programs to reduce the impacts from diving, snorkeling and day to day resort operations with over 100 tourism operators involved. We found out that lack of awareness among the local population was one of the main reasons for non-compliance with MPA regulations. To overcome this, we run monthly education and awareness programs with the primary and high schools on the island. Public talks and social media is also actively used to spread information about coral reefs to villagers.

Conducting education program with local school to increase awareness among the local population. Photo: Hasnieza R.

To reduce dependence on the reef as an economic resource, and to improve social resilience we provided skills training for alternative livelihoods, where villagers were trained to work in the tourism and government sectors. I also trained a team of islanders to assist in day-to-day management activities, such as installation and maintenance of mooring buoys, removal of ghost nets and marine debris, bleaching monitoring, Crown-of-Thorns Starfish monitoring, and rapid response. The team was later called the Tioman Marine Conservation Group (TMCG) and registered as an official company with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM). They were officially sub-contracted by the Department of Marine Parks Malaysia (DMPM) to help with certain tasks initially and in 2019 were officially selected as strategic partners under the Department of Fisheries Reef Care program.

Removing ghost net with the Tioman Marine Conservation Group (TMCG). Photo: Halimi A.

Being a scientist at heart I do try to keep myself involved with various research programs, from being the lead scientist for Biosphere Expeditions in Malaysia to conducting annual bleaching monitoring, coral spawning monitoring and my latest project is to study the mesophotic ecosystems extending to depths of 50m around Tioman island. I guess at the end of the day I just love being on the reef and would do whatever I can to make sure the reefs are protected.

Check out some recent coverages and acknowledgments on my works all, of which I’m truly grateful for:

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Transplanting corals for reef rehabilitation. Photo: Halimi A.
Conducting necropsy on a dead dolphin to better understand the cause of death. Photo: Hasnieza R.