Paper short abstract:

Looking from the perspective of interdisciplinary research, the paper presents the exchanges and interactions between anthropology and marine ecology, between "slow science" and "fast science" while working on the social representations of coral reefs ecosystems in Madagascar.

Paper long abstract:

Coral reefs are amongst the most productive and biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth and provide food for people living along the coastline being also nursery grounds to many fish species, habitat for a large variety of organisms and natural barriers protecting the coastlines from waves. The South West coast of Madagascar, where the present research was conducted, represents the third largest coral reef in the world, known also as the Toliara reef system that extends for a distance of more than 300 km. In this context, an interdisciplinary research was carried out between 2014 and 2015 focusing on children's social representations of the coral reef ecosystem. Reflecting on this ethnographic experience in Madagascar, we will introduce the common research methodologies of "slow science" (anthropology) and "fast science" (marine ecology). In this sense, we will discuss the integration of knowledge coming from each discipline and the importance of teamwork and mutual understanding of the same research object: the coral reef ecosystem. From this perspective, we will discuss upon how we can get to have an interactive, integrative collaboration between disciplines and how, as researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds, we can learn about and from each other in a coordinated approach.