Sonia Ribes-Beaudemoulin

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.

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.

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). 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."

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:

2002: Underwater Wonders: Reef Life in Reunion, photographs James Caratini and Thierry Soriano 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" 2007: Fishes of coral reefs, with Patrick Durville, ill. and photographs Alain Diringer. Ocean editions, coll. "Animals of the Mascarenes" 2008: Animals of coral reefs. Ocean editions, coll. "Animals of the Mascarenes" 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. . 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)