The marine ecology off the coast of Cambodia is seriously threatened by overfishing, illegal dredging and a lack of understanding of marine habitats.

The Liger Marine Research Team was formed, comprising a group of eight young explorers ages 13-18. These young explorers are all highly passionate about marine science, researching, protecting and monitoring the fragile marine environment. They also partnered with Marine Conservation Cambodia to regularly survey the coral, seagrass and mangrove areas along the coastline.

Their efforts have included: participating in beach cleanups; writing a proposal to create a business of algae farming as an alternative livelihood for illegal fishermen; and completing personal projects to determine seaweed growing methods.

One of the key focus areas involved designing artificial reefs out of concrete blocks that allowed for recolonisation of fish and coral, as well as doubling as anti-trawling devices. Students have learned to conduct marine surveys on these artificial reefs. The entire team has become certified scuba divers to be able to conduct extensive underwater research.

The young marine researchers also wrote reports on research findings that will be used by marine conservation groups in Cambodia and the Fisheries Administration of Cambodia. They have created podcasts, and plan to write educational materials about marine ecology for the upcoming generations.

These reports allow the team to improve technical writing skills. Students use statistics knowledge learned in maths to support and analyse their data.

Students gain expertise and confidence in their communication skills by presenting their findings and solutions to marine conservation groups, government officials, fishing communities and public schools, to educate them about their marine ecosystem.

Very few resources are available for Cambodians to learn about the geography of their own country. 

Over a period of one school year, the 12 and 13-year-old students took on the challenge to complete a 420-page student-written, student-published book, 'The Geography of Cambodia'. The book is intended to be a reliable and credible source of information about the geographical diversity of the Kingdom. 

The project involved 4200 hours of research, 3150 hours of design, 1848 hours of editing, 5560 hours of revision, and a visit to all 25 provinces and cities around Cambodia.  The book is written in both English and Khmer and all work in the book is original including all photography, graphics, tables, charts, maps, and laying out the book using desktop publishing software.

Our learners wrote a grant to raise US$10,000 to print and distribute the book to schools throughout Cambodia. They also hosted a book launch at a major bookstore in Phnom Penh where ‘The Geography of Cambodia’ is now being sold.

There are very few scientists, technology experts, engineers and mathematicians (STEM workers) in Cambodia. The mission for this project is to develop future engineers and create positive impacts on students, schools, communities, and Cambodia’s reputation while introducing new technology.

The team is called LigerSat, a team of five senior school students pioneering the way for space projects in Cambodia. The group is attempting  to develop the first Cambodian satellite. In collaboration with advisors from Boeing, CalPoly in California, graduate students from Cornell University Space Science Programme, and other volunteers, students are working to design and build a microsatellite to be hopefully launched into lower-altitude space in the next two years.

Students are learning about the specificities of space sciences, CubeSats (small satellites 10cm X 10cm) and ground station design (how to communicate with the satellite), and researching and brainstorming possible missions. Some of the team has even studied and passed international radio certification to be able to legally communicate with the satellite. 

Our students have raised more than US$30,000 for the project from crowd funding and grant writing.  The role of the LigerSat is to take pictures of the Earth and transmit those pictures back to the ground. The real goal of the project for our learners is to inspire the nation’s youth by designing an educational programme where students from across the country can follow the project by learning about space science and distributing “space kits” so students can download photos from the satellite’s camera. 

The LigerSAT hopes that this project will motivate their generation to innovate and pursue higher education, in both aerospace technology and beyond. The project has the potential to inspire a nation.  All LigerSat team members are extremely passionate and are working hard, over several years, to turn this project into a reality.