Sonia Ribes-Beaudemoulin (born 22 November 1953 in Saint-Pierre) is a French biologist and oceanographer. From 1991 to 2019, she was chief curator of the Réunion Island Natural History Museum. For her work, she was awarded the National Order of Merit.^[1]

Biography

Ribes-Beaudemoulin was born in Saint-Pierre on the Réunion Islands (located in the Indian Ocean) and was educated at Roland-Garros high school in Le Tampon and then at Jules-Ferry high school in Paris.^[2]

She graduated with a master's degree in animal biology, followed by a DEA in biological oceanography from Pierre and Marie-Curie University. At Aix-Marseille University, she earned a doctorate in biological oceanography. She then returned to Réunion where she taught secondary school mathematics in Saint-Denis (1979-1983) and then natural sciences (1983-1990).^[2]

In 1990, she was appointed curator of the Natural History Museum of Réunion in Saint-Denis allowing her to study marine and terrestrial fauna and flora, to the ecology and biodiversity of the Indian Ocean zone, including coral reefs.^[3] She also organized exhibitions for the museum, which is home to "more than 42,000 listed pieces – two-thirds of which come from the islands of the western Indian Ocean."^[2]

In 2007, Ribes-Beaudemoulin was appointed president of the Scientific Council of the newly created Réunion Marine Nature Reserve. She is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Réunion National Park created the same year and of the Regional Scientific Council for Natural Heritage. She is co-founder of the association Vie Océane (Ocean Life) for the defense of coral reefs, and a member of the departmental commission for nature, landscapes and sites. She also founded the Society for Ornithological Studies of Réunion (SEOR).^[2]

She was also responsible for the opening of the Salt Museum in Saint-Leu, a structure which opened in 2007.

Nactus soniae is a species of gecko that was found during one of the expeditions; it was named after Ribes-Beaudemolin.^[4][5]

Selected works

In addition to scientific articles, Ribes-Beaudemoulin writes books for the general public on the terrestrial and marine fauna of Réunion. Selected works include:

• Ribes-Beaudemoulin, Sonia (2007-07-01). "Le muséum d'Histoire naturelle de La Réunion. Vers un muséum de l'insularité". La Lettre de l'OCIM. Musées, Patrimoine et Culture scientifiques et techniques (in French) (112): 22–29. doi:10.4000/ocim.734. ISSN 0994-1908.
• 2002: Underwater Wonders: Reef Life in Reunion, photographs James Caratini and Thierry Soriano (ISBN 2-9519074-0-0)
• 2003: Biodiversity, the living in all its states, an exhibition of the Natural History Museum of Reunion
• 2006: Animals in Creole Gardens, ill. Francois Malbreil. Ocean editions, coll. "Animals of the Mascarenes" (ISBN 2-907064-94-0)
• 2007: Fishes of coral reefs, with Patrick Durville, ill. and photographs Alain Diringer. Ocean editions, coll. "Animals of the Mascarenes" (ISBN 978-2-916533-15-5)
• 2008: Animals of coral reefs. Ocean editions, coll. "Animals of the Mascarenes" (ISBN 978-2-916533-44-5)
• 2008: Biodiversity of Reunion, box of 6 volumes, scientific coordination. Reunion Natural History Museum
• 2016: Chantal Conand, Sonia Ribes-Beaudemoulin, Florence Trentin, Thierry Mulochau and Émilie Boissin, Reunion, Les éditions du Cyclone, 168  p. (ISBN 979-10-94397-04-6).
• 2019: Shellfish, nudibranchs and other molluscs from Reunion. Cyclone Editions
• 2020: Discovering the spiders of Réunion, with Grégory Cazanove. Volcano Editions

Exhibitions

• Animaux des jardins créoles, en collaboration with François Malbreil (2006)
• Poissons des récifs coralliens, en collaboration with Patrick Durville (2006).
• Les animaux des récifs coralliens (2008) ^[2]

References