Contact Information
Phone:(808) 218-0759
Fax: (808) 956-3923
Email: ogaoue@hawaii.edu

University of Hawai`i at Manoa
3190 Maile Way, Room 101
Honolulu, HI 96822

Affiliations
Botany, EECB

Dissertation Title:
Assessing the impact of foliage and bark harvest on Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss. (Meliaceae) in Benin, West Africa

Statement
I am interested in assessing the ecological impacts of non-timber forest product (NTFP) harvest by indigenous people and determining sustainable harvesting limits in order to develop better conservation strategies. I am particularly investigating the impact of multi-organ (bark and foliage) and multipurpose (medicine and fodder) harvest on the demography, physiology and genetic diversity of tropical plant populations (e.g. 12 populations of Khaya senegalensis in Benin); and how regional/ecological differences and NTFPs harvest may interact to shape the response of plant populations to harvest. I am also interested in understanding the way indigenous people's perception of plant response to harvest affect their future harvesting practices.

Awards

• Beatrice Krauss Fellowship, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003, 2007


• East West Center Alumni - Hawaii Chapter, Travel Grant, 2007


• Overseas Bursary Award, British Ecological Society, UK, 2006


• Rufford Small Grant, The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation, UK, 2006


• Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology (EECB) Program Awards, 2004 - 2007


• Kenji Yamaguma Fellowship, International Student Service, UHM, 2006


• African Forest Research Network (AFORNET) Research Fellowship, Kenya, 2005


• Vavilov Frankel Fellowship, Bioversity International (ex IPGRI), Italy, 2004


• Research Fellowship, International Foundation for Science (IFS), Sweden, 2004


• Dai Ho Chun Research Award, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004


• Art & Science Council Research/Travel Award, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004, 2007


• Graduate Student Organization Travel Grant, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004, 2006

Publications

• Gaoué O.G. and Ticktin T. 2007. Patterns of harvesting NTFP from the multipurpose tree Khaya senegalensis in Benin: variation across climatic regions and its impacts on population structure. Biological Conservation 137: 424-436.


• Gaoué O.G. and Ticktin T. 2007. Impacts of bark and foliage harvest on Khaya senegalensis reproductive performance in Benin. Journal of Applied Ecology, in press


• Menges S.E., Quintana-Ascencio P.F., Weekley W.C., Gaoué O.G. 2006. Population viability analysis and fire return intervals for an endemic Florida scrub mint. Biological Conservation 127(1): 115-127.


• Sinsin B., Eyog-Matig O., Assogbadjo A.E., Gaoué O.G., Sinadouwirou T., 2004. Dendrometric characteristics as indicators of pressure of Afzelia africana Sm. Dynamic changes in trees found in different climatic zones of Benin. Biodiversity and Conservation 13(8): 1555-1570


• Gaoué O.G., 2004. Book review: Transboundary protected areas. The viability of regional conservation strategies. Economic Botany 58 (2): 320

Conference Contributions

• Gaoué O.G., 2005. Plant life vs. human life: using and conserving medicinal plants in West Africa. Invited Lecture – Ecological Ethnobotany. University of Hawaii at Manoa.


• Gaoué O.G., 2005. Harvesting Khaya senegalensis (Meliaceae) NTFPs in Benin, West Africa. Seminar , University of Hawaii Society for Ethnobiology.


• Gaoué O.G., 2004. Impact of non-timber forest product (NTFP) harvest on the genetic diversity of harvested populations – Methodological approaches. 45th Annual Meeting of the Society for Economic Botany. University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.


• Gaoué O.G., 2004. Assessing the impact of non-timber forest products harvest on African dry zone mahogany. 29th Annual Albert L.Tester Memorial Symposium. Honolulu, Hawaii


• Quintana-Ascencio P.F., Menges E.S., Weekley C.W. & Gaoué O.G., 2003. Demographic variation with fire in an endemic mint. 88th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Savannah, Georgia.


• Gaoué O.G., 2003. Coping with a harsh environment: Population viability and microhabitat analysis for Dicerandra frutescens (Lamiaceae). Archbold Biological Station, Florida.


• Gaoué O.G., 2003. Conservation of harvested tree species in Africa. Florida Ecology and Evolution Symposium. Lake Placid, Florida.