Flyway Monitoring Trainees of 2026

With the autumn count just around the corner, it’s time to meet this year’s Flyway Monitoring Trainees! Following the success of the first two editions of this fruitful collaboration with OSME, we’re excited to welcome a new cohort to Batumi and can’t wait to see what this season has in store.

In 2024, BRC launched the Flyway Monitoring Traineeship, an initiative developed together with our long-standing partner OSME. The programme supports ambitious bird conservationists from across the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central Asia; giving them hands-on experience in organising migration monitoring while helping them build the skills and confidence to strengthen conservation efforts back home.

Thanks to the support from OSME’s Youth Development Fund, the traineeship is set to continue for the years to come. Originally we planned to host two trainees each season, but careful use of the available resources means we can once again welcome three participants. With just a few days to go until the first raptors start streaming overhead, we’re excited to introduce the trainees.

Who are the 2026 trainees?

Each trainee brings their own unique story, experience and ambitions to Batumi. Below, our 2026 Flyway Monitoring Trainees shortly introduce themselves, sharing what inspired them to apply and their passion for bird conservation:

Toka Eldakamawy, 2026 Flyway Monitoring Trainee from Egypt — Toka Eldakamawy holds a BSc in Zoology from Helwan University, where she developed a novel behavioural mimicry prototype indexing ethological data for organisational application. Currently, Toka serves as a Junior Photo-ID Specialist and Educational Awareness Lead with Turtle Watch Egypt (TWE), working in Marine Turtle Photo-Identification Cataloguing, Data Management, and Public Conservation Outreach across Egypt. Alongside her marine turtle work, Toka is working hard on her avian identification skills as an aspiring raptor monitor, gaining early bottleneck-site experience at Ras Ghareb and actively participating in local urban birdwatching initiatives.

Arda Faruzlu, 2026 Flyway Monitoring Trainee from Türkiye — Arda Faruzlu is a biology student at Ankara University from Ankara, Türkiye. Before birds, he enjoyed simple things like playing basketball and football, watching motorsports, films, and TV series. Three years ago, a friend took him to the Eymir Bird Ringing Station, and ever since, birdwatching has become Arda’s greatest hobby. During his undergraduate studies, he decided to turn this passion into his life’s work and study ornithology. Over the years, he developed a special interest in raptors and now he knows that he wants to spend his whole life with them.

Redha Tabet, 2026 Flyway Monitoring Trainee from Lebanon — Redha Tabet is a freelance wildlife conservationist who grew up in the mountains of Lebanon. He has spent his childhood watching the Lebanese bottleneck sky during bird migration without knowing this was called spotting. Now, being a seasoned birdwatcher, Redha has participated in conservation projects across Lebanon, France and Canada, including bird telemetry, breeding and migration monitoring. Alongside being a big fan of birds, he is also fond of fauna in general, including using bioacoustics as a means of studying bat ethology. A game he loves to play in the field is listening to wildlife sounds and seeing if he can imagine the associated animal behaviours.

Toka, Arda, and Redha will all spend a month embedded within the Batumi Raptor Count! Our experienced team of coordinators will take them along, allowing the trainees to learn firsthand how to run a high-standard raptor migration monitoring project. The traineeships are funded through OSME’s Youth Development Fund, which covers all travel and accommodation expenses up to €1,300 per person.

About the Traineeship

Inspired by the rapid development of new monitoring sites across the East Afro-Eurasian Flyway, the traineeship is created to support early-career conservationists from the OSME region who are committed to bringing knowledge and experience to local monitoring projects back home. Trainees become full members of the BRC coordination team during their stay, contributing directly to the counts while also gaining behind-the-scenes experience of what it takes to run a successful migration monitoring project.

For candidates interested in applying for the 2027 traineeship, we recommend preparing your application by reading more about the programme via the button below.