A ST HELENS Council official is joining an elite squad . . . to study monkeys in Sri Lanka.

Education officer Bryan Lipscombe is one of 77 teachers and education officers to be awarded an Earthwatch Millennium Fellowship and he has gained a place on an international Earthwatch scientific project on the Indian Ocean island.

Bryan (32) is St Helens Council's Local Agenda 21 Co-ordinator and he will be joining other volunteers for two weeks to carry out a project on the country's monkeys.

He said: "It's a thrill and honour to have won this award and get the chance to play a small part in vital global research. I can't wait and still don't believe it.

"I hope to pick up some useful research skills while learning more about how complex and fragile eco-systems work and what we need to do to protect them."

This is the final year of the Earthwatch Millennium Fellowship scheme, which is funded by a £1.4 million grant from the Millennium Commission. By the end of the three-year Earthwatch Millennium Fellowship scheme 565 teachers and education officers will have taken part and brought back their experiences to the classroom.

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