Job opportunity: Help us out at the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey!

The Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey (CMBS), is a  national project that takes stock of Singapore’s marine ecosystem and species diversity, species distribution and abundance. It began in 2010 and will conclude in 2015. Besides regular surveys, the project includes two intensive 3-week expeditions in which local and international researchers come together to study the various marine taxa found in our waters.

The first expedition surveying the northern shores (Johor Straits) was held in October 2012 and we are now gearing up for an encore in May, this time in the southern waters of Singapore.

Sorting!

We need help!

 

TMSI is recruiting four student assistants to help out during the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey workshop.

If you have a passion for biodiversity research, fieldwork, or just want to learn and interact with local and international marine scientists, this is a golden opportunity to garner the necessary experience.

Job Scope

The successful candidate will be involved in various aspects of the expedition, such as logistics, equipment cleaning and maintenance, field collection, dredging, sorting, preservation, photo taking, data entry and assisting researchers.

Candidates should be:

Be able to stay in expedition base camp (at St John’s Island) for the duration of the expedition (20 May to 8 June).

Enthusiastic and able to work well with others.No prior experience necessary, but that will be a bonus!

For more information please visit http://megamarinesurvey.blogspot.sg, in particular the posts about the Northern Expedition (http://megamarinesurvey.blogspot.sg/search/label/Northern%20Expedition#.USw0CaVvhtE)

Please contact Joelle Lai, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at dbslcyj[@]nus.edu.sg if interested.

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Volunteer opportunities as Field Assistants for Honours Field Projects. Dec 2012 – Mar 2013

Email sent out to LSM1103, LSM2251 and LSM3261 students:

Dear students,

Our honours students need help with small mammal trapping, civet and squirrel surveys, frogging, hunts for forest termites, mangrove horseshoe crab measurements in the mangrove, and other projects.

This is a great way for undergraduates to gain exposure to field work, explore nature areas in Singapore and learn about how science is conducted in the field.

To help on field trips which will be conducted between Dec 2012 and Mar 2013, please apply at: http://tinyurl.com/hons-fieldwork

After you register, various Honours students will contact you with their field trip schedule.
It’s not a blanket period, you will be able to pick and choose dates.

Cheerio!

Sivasothi
–
N. Sivasothi (Mr) • Lecturer, Department of Biological Sciences • Research Associate, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research • National University of Singapore • 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543 • Office – S2-04-20; Lab – S2 02: at • Map: http//map.sivasothi.com • Phone: +65-6516 8869 • Fax: +65-6779 2486 • Email: sivasothi@nus.edu.sg, sivasothi@gmail.com (IM) • Web: http://www.sivasothi.com • Blog: http://blog.sivasothi.com • Modules: LSM1103, LSM1303, LSM2251, LSM3261, LSM4262, MW5201/2 • Staff Advisor, NUS PEACE, http://blog.nus.edu.sg/nuspeace • Coordinator, Raffles Museum Toddycats, http://toddycats.rafflesmuseum.net/ • Coordinator, International Coastal Cleanup Singapore, http//coastalcleanup.nus.edu.sg

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Announcing “Birds of NUS”, a resource for LSM1103 and LSM2251 students by undergrad David Tan

David Tan was a rabid birder before he came to NUS. In the LSM2251 Ecology and the Environment class, he was the hallelujah chorus, head nodding with enthusiasm about ecological perspectives. So it was really noticeable when he was missing in class, usually battling some last-minute assignment deadline.

He found an outlet for his enthusiasm about birds with an undergraduate research project (UROPS) with Richard Corlett, during which he evaluated distance sampling as a tool for population estimates of bird species in our NUS Kent Ridge Campus.

David guiding for Raffles Museum Toddycats during
the Festival of Biodiversity, 27 May 2012

I was one of his examiners and conducted his oral exam at University Hall Spinelli’s over coffee. The session lasted several hours, as I explored the depths of his observations of our campus birds in addition to the question he had addressed.

His report was a dry, colourless affair, satisfying page limits and academic objectives. But he had carried a load of equipment during his surveys, taking photos and identifying animals at point locations as well as estimating distance and had lots of useful information about individual species.

Represented graphically, could become a resource for students and the public alike – especially with the Kent Ridge being part of the Southern Ridges.

So he did just that before leaving for a year overseas and produced “The Birds of NUS” at nusavifauna.wordpress.com which includes a guide to identifying birds, artificial keys, a checklist and maps with point locations of observed species (may favourite bit). He roped in co-conspirator Zachary Kok, a Physics major who ‘authored more than 25% of the bird profiles’ on the webpage.

This is a resource for LSM2251 and now LSM1103 Biodiversity students as well. It’ll come in handy with younger students who work on mapping project with me in future too. Pretty neat, huh?

http://nusavifauna.wordpress.com

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Ong Say Lin to be appointed Director of ACRES Laos PDR

ACRES announced the long-awaited news yesterday, “A warm welcome to Say Lin to ACRES. He will be the Director of ACRES Laos PDR!”

Ong Say Lin, one of our 3rd-year life science undergraduates was in Laos PDR for the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Singapore) (ACRES) and Laos Zoo for the establishment of the first Wildlife Rescue and Education Centre there.

You can read all the news reports on WildSingaporeNews.

Say Lin and Louis in Laos PDR. Photo by ACRES.

Say Lin is completing his third year this semester (including his wild boar UROPS) and after a reservist stint with the Singapore Armed Forces, will be on his way to Laos to take up his duties to setup the wildlife rescue centre there. During his undergraduate years, Say Lin interned at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), minored in Environmental Biology with University of Toronto, interned at The American Bear Association’s Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary, resuscitated NUS PEACE, spoke up at and later eventually chaired sessions at the Animal Welfare Symposium.

He follows in proud footsteps – his boss at ACRES, Louis Ng, is a biology graduate too and presented at the Biodiversity & Ecology Journal Club way back in 2002, when he was still a student. He spoke out for animal welfare, started ACRES and has kept it going and motivated others all these years.

Congratulations Say Lin, we are all proud of you and will look forward to your updates!

Students who are interested in helping out at the ACRES Laos PDR can contact Say Lin at saylin.ong@gmail.com.

See “Where is pigboy?!” By N. Sivasothi. Otterman speaks…, 30 Mar 2012.

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The 2011 Student Conference on Conservation Science @ Bangalore, India, 14-16 Sep 2011.

Message from the Conference Administrator, SCCS-Bangalore:

“Dear friends,

We are happy to announce that the 2011 edition of the Student
Conference on Conservation Science-Bangalore will be held on 14-16
September at the JN Tata Auditorium, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, India.

Confirmed plenary speakers include Prof. Yvonne Sadovy (University of
Hong Kong) and Prof. Andrew Balmford (University of Cambridge).

Last year, more that 300 student participants attended SCCS-Bangalore,
at which 66 students presented talks and posters. The presentations
were supplemented by workshops, discussions, and a session on Who’s
Who in Conservation.

This year’s programme is similar, and we invite your participation to
present your work, represent your organisation in the Who’s Who
session, or to simply attend.

Further details are at www.sccs-bng.org, but here are some important dates:

Online abstract submission deadline: 15th July 2011
Early registration (Indian Rupees 1000) deadline: 31st August 2011
Spot registrations at the conference venue will cost INR 1500.

We look forward to your participation, and to a productive conference
in Bangalore.

Please feel free to circulate this email to others you think it might interest.

With best wishes,”

Bharath Sundaram
Conference Administrator
SCCS-Bangalore
(w) http://www.sccs-bng.org
(e) sccs@sccs-bng.org

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“All that glitters in not necessarily green” – Ong Say Lin’s essay in The Student Globe, Apr 2011

The Jakarta Globe started a new quarterly supplement in their newspapers, the Student Globe. Touted as ‘Indonesia’s first ever full-color English-language newspaper supplement just for high school students and their teachers’, it aims to bring about awareness about the environment.

Articles are welcome from young writers who would better connect with the students in Indonesia. Teachers are encouraged to use the Student Globe in their classrooms to improve students’ grasp of English language.

Ong Say Lin has been pursuing the Joint Minor in Environmental Biology at the University of Toronto this past academic year. Recently, through the suggestion of his friend Donna Tan in Global Initiatives, he submitted an article based on a topic he had previously discussed in his presentation about his experience working at Wong Siew Te’s Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre.

Passionate about wildlife and the environment, he observed the transformed, homogenous landscape in Malaysia as a young boy. He would later realise this was oil palm, and come to understand the implications.

Two weeks ago, the editors in the Jakarta Globe accepted the article and published it in Issue 2 (Apr 2011):

Click to see pdf

Isn’t that lovely news, that he has reached out to his peers in the region? Congratulations, Say Lin!

Ong Say Lin blogs at “Ecological Perspectives“.

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Students understanding cats – territorial behaviour and home range of community cats

Note the date has been corrected to this Wednesday,i.e. 30 Mar 2011.

Community cats are free-roaming cats managed by volunteers who have adopted the Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage program as advocated by the Cat Welfare Society and SPCA. Studying the ecology of community cats is a way for us to better understand and appreciate these animals.

This year, a group of cross-faculty students observed the behaviour exhibited between individual community cats in their neighbourhood while a 3rd year biology student followed 10 cats in a single estate to plot their home range.

This Wednesday, we all meet to exchange notes. All are welcome to join us.

Wednesday 30 Mar 2011: 6.30pm – 7.30pm
DBS Conference Room, S3-05
Host: N. Sivasothi

Talk 1 – “Territoriality in cats: food versus space”

We observed the behavior of community cats in five housing estates in Singapore, by measuring the distance between individuals before, during and after feeding. Cats tolerated the proximity of other individuals in the presence of food and general behavioural patterns will be described as well as traits specific to certain individuals.

By Chua Hui Xuan Valerie, Heng Yuan Hao, Koh Hui Qin Alethea, Tan Shu Ling Leanne, Wong Yimin
Group 01, LSM1303 Animal Behaviour project group 2010/11 Sem 2

Talk 2 – “Peak activity, home range size and overlap of community cats in a mature TRNM estate – a discussion of a preliminary study. “

By Mei AIlian
LSM3288 Undergraduate Opportunities in Science 2010/11 Sem 2 (ongoing).

About the talk – While human-cat conflict has been examined the past, the ecology of sterilised community cats has not yet been examined. This study used scan and focal surveys of 10 out of 24 cats in an HDB estate, investigating the peak activity of the cats and the distribution, overlap, gender influence and feeding location on home range. The diversity of sociality of individual cats were also examined in this study.

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Today Online on the new Bachelor of Environmental Studies programme

“New degree course to tackle complex environmental issues at the National University of Singapore,” by Neo Chai Chin. Today Online, 25 Feb 2011.

SINGAPORE – In August, the National University of Singapore (NUS) will welcome 50 students whose idea of fun is doing field studies on Christmas Island, or learning the myriad issues behind haze in the region.

The students will form the pioneer batch of the new Bachelor of Environmental Studies programme, a four-year, direct Honours course.

Environmental issues are too urgent and wide-ranging to be tackled in a fragmented way, say the leaders of the taskforce that designed the inter-disciplinary curriculum.

During discussions, “it impressed on me, really, that as a social scientist…I’m only trained to appreciate one fragment of the entire global issue”, said sociologist Paulin Straughan. The taskforce was co-led by NUS Faculty of Science special projects director Professor Leo Tan, a respected conservationist.

The involvement of eight NUS faculties and schools – including the Arts and Social Sciences, Science and Law faculties – in the programme signals just how broad-based it is, said Prof Tan.

In the first two years, modules in biology, chemistry and economics, among others, will be taught. Subsequently, students may opt to specialise in either Environmental Biology or Environmental Geography.

Field studies will be conducted at places where NUS already has research interests – such as Christmas Island and possibly northern Thailand.

On Christmas Island, students will see first-hand the delicate balance between conservation, development, tourism and migration.

Another intriguing issue is the haze. “We always complain that the Indonesians don’t care about haze and they burn, but if you go to places that have been burnt, you find the problems there are very complicated. Some companies there are owned by… multinational corporations,” said Professor Peter Ng, director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research.

“If you expose students to these real world situations, they begin to see a different angle to this. At the end of the day, environmental challenges in different countries are all inter-connected.”

Prof Tan said NUS hopes to attract “top-notch A Level students” to the course. Students need to have a “good” pass in Maths and either Biology or Chemistry, though exceptions could be made, said Assoc Prof Straughan.

NEO CHAI CHIN

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The Loke Cheng-Kim Foundation Scholarships for first degrees in Natural Sciences, Environment, et al. (closes 18 Mar 2011)

THE LOKE CHENG-KIM FOUNDATION
Scholarships

The Loke Cheng-Kim Foundation invites students who have applied for admission to courses leading to first degrees conferred by established local and overseas universities in the 2011/2012 academic year to apply for scholarship awards.

ELIGIBILITY
Applicants should be Singapore citizens or permanent residents and should not be current holders of other scholarship awards or grants. This year, the Board is looking particularly for applications in the fields of Natural Sciences, Environment, Horticulture, the Humanities and the Performing Arts.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Candidates should ideally have a strong record of academic and co-curricular achievements, but consideration will also be given to those who can demonstrate a capacity for independent thought, together with a real passion for and commitment to their chosen field. Candidates will be asked to accompany the prescribed application form with a personal statement (maximum 300 words) stating their career aims and aspirations, and how they see their chosen university and course of study as helping to achieve them.

SCHOLARSHIP VALUE
A scholarship’s annual value will cover fees and book allowances, initial clothing allowance, maintenance allowance and return economy class airfare and is tenable for the whole undergraduate course of study leading to a first degree.

APPLICATIONS
Applications must be made on prescribed forms available at the foundation webpage [click for pdf] and submitted to:

The Secretary
The Loke Cheng-Kim Foundation
c/o Tricor Singapore Pte Ltd
8 Cross Street #11-00 PWC Building
Singapore 048424

CLOSING DATE
18 March 2011

Applicants shortlisted for interview will be notified by 30 April 2011.

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Goh Kai Ying on the SEP Experience at Auckland: Getting tough!

Student Exchange Programme
to University of Auckland, New Zealand,
July-Dec 2009

Being away from home for five months can be very daunting. It wasn’t just the mental challenges, it took my body quite awhile to adapt to the cold and dry climate of Auckland, New Zealand. Even as I reminisce about the ‘roughening and toughening’ I experienced, SEP was all worth while!

I began exchange experience with a week of getting and being lost. While my five NUS schoolmates had taken residence in the university hostel, I lived in the suburbs with a kiwi family. Getting home was tough as the bus frequencies and routes were all unfamiliar to me. So I spent that week taking the wrong bus, alighting at the wrong stop and missing the bus. With daylight hours in winter quite short and the streets not exactly exhibiting docile Singapore conditions, the fear of lurking bad guys triggered lots of adrenaline through my blood!

With familiarity though, I began exploring Auckland beyond school and home. Weekends became fun-packed short road trips to various towns on the outskirts of Auckland. But fun and danger always come hand-in-hand. Once up a ski mountain, Mount Ruapehu, my group of friends ventured beyond the training grounds to the higher ranges for a taste of death. The combination of poor control and bad brakes battered our heads and butts, but the domino effect ending with laughter.

Meeting and getting to know new people is an integral part of the exchange experience – package. There are unpleasant individuals everywhere, but the friendly ones do make up a fair share. It was the people who make the SEP really memorable for me and the best parts of my experience were the shared ones. In particular, I had my New Zealand family whom I bonded with and truly felt to be a part of. Those genuine feelings are hard to describe but priceless.

The SEP experience began from the pre-exchange period – when the financial issue finally surfaced, it was hard not to get worried. Fortunately, since the application for SEP was approximately a year ahead of actual travel, there was time to gather money – I did odd jobs which supplemented the support from a NASA award and my parents. Choosing exchange universities and mapping modules got really messy so I had to be alert and persistent. I decided to forgo the competitive and prestigious Universities for a less popular one. As a budding ecologist, nature was a much bigger draw than mappable modules, so New Zealand easily secured my vote.

My motto when it came to SEP then was, “Fun is primary, studying is secondary.” The pictures below provide a tip of the iceberg impression in describing Auckland’s wonderful outdoor classroom experience!

Goh Kai Ying,
Honours student, Marine Biology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences.

Morning at Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park

Yearly sand dune jumping competition at the geography 101 module field trip

Kayaking around the coastline of Abel Tasman National Park

To Harwoods Hole, Golden Bay

Glacier walking, Fox Glacier

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