Job opportunity: Monitoring freshwater invertebrates

Research Assistant/Technical Support Officer opportunities with the Department of Biological Sciences, NUS and the Public Utilities Board, PUB.

As Singapore is one of most water-scarce countries in the world, water management is critical. The Public Utilities Board recently commissioned the National University of Singapore’s Department of Biological Sciences to develop a lentic macro-invertebrate biotic index for the island’s waterways, with an emphasis on shallow tropical lakes. This will now complement the extensive water quality sampling regime already in place.

We are seeking three Research Assistants and/or Laboratory Technicians to assist a team with monitoring freshwater invertebrates in Singapore.

The candidates should have:

• either a polytechnic diploma or degree in biology or a related subject,
• field experience,
• preferably a Singaporean driving licence,
• experience of ecological sampling protocols and/or freshwater macro-invertebrates. This would be advantageous but full training will be provided ‘on the job’.

The posts are initially for 6 months with a likely possibility of longer-term employment depending on the performance on the job and/or progress of the project. Positions are available immediately.

Interested candidates are invited to send their CV to Dr Esther Clews at dbsec@nus.edu.sg.

Closing date for applications: Thursday 29th October 2009.
Interviews will take place during the first week of November.

Dr Esther Clews
Postdoctoral Fellow
Marine Biology Laboratory
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
14, Science Drive 4, Blk S1,
#02-05 Singapore 117543
Phone: +65 6516 6867

Gwynne wins Fulbright Scholarship!

Just received some marvelous news; congratulations, Gwynne!

Gwynne “Don’t trash my planet” Lim
Photo by Nalini Puniamoorthy

Congratulations to Gwynne Shimin Lim from the Evolutionary Biology Laboratory on winning an International Fulbright Science and Technology Award. Her award allows her to pursue a Ph.D. in Science, Technology and Engineering at a leading US university. The fellowship comes with assistance in admission as well as three years of full financial support (tuition, living expenses, travel expenses, book allowance).

The Science & Technology award is co-sponsored by the US Department of State and the US Department of Education in order to underscore the commitment of the United States to welcoming future researchers and leaders in Science, Technology and Engineering. It was started in 2006 and the number of annual awards is 40 worldwide.

Gwynne graduated from NUS and USP in 2007 with a B.Sc. (Honours) in Life Science (Biology). She subsequently pursued a Master of Science in Life Science and has published four papers including one in Annual Review of Entomology. She has also attended four international conferences and recently won the Don Rozen award for her presentation at the XXVIII. Annual Meeting of the Willi Hennig Society.

Gwynne is active in Singapore’s biodiversity community and was the Editor-in-Chief of the inaugural issue of NUS’s chapter of “The Triple Helix” which is dedicated to popularizing science across the campuses of major world universities.

She intends to pursue a PhD in plant systematics.

Her award is only the second one for Singapore. The first went to another NUS student and USP graduate (Mr. Reuben Ng) who majored in psychology, pursued a M.Sc. in Management Research at the University of Oxford before using his Fulbright award to pursue a Ph.D. in Public Health at Yale University.

More information on Fulbright Fellowships can be found at the International Fulbright Science and Technology Award and the US Embassy’s Fulbright in Singapore webpage.

“How cities drive plants extinct”

Richard Corlett is a co-author in Hahs et al., 2009. A global synthesis of plant extinction rates in urban areas. Ecology Letters 12, DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01372.x

Abstract – “… We compiled plant extinction rate data for 22 cities around the world. Two-thirds of the variation in plant extinction rates was explained by a combination of the city’s historical development and the current proportion of native vegetation, with the former explaining the greatest variability. As a single variable, the amount of native vegetation remaining also influenced extinction rates, particularly in cities > 200 years old.

Our study demonstrates that the legacies of landscape transformations by agrarian and urban development last for hundreds of years, and modern cities potentially carry a large extinction debt. This finding highlights the importance of preserving native vegetation in urban areas and the need for mitigation to minimize potential plant extinctions in the future.”

BBC is carrying the story: “How cities drive plants extinct,” by Matt Walker. BBC Earth News 08 Oct 2009:

Excerpt – “An international team of botanists has compared extinction rates of plants within 22 cities around the world.
Both Singapore and New York City in the US now contain less than one-tenth of their original vegetation, reveals the analysis published in Ecology Letters.
However, San Diego, US and Durban, South Africa still retain over two-thirds of their original flora.
Both the pace of urban change and how many plants remain in a city are good predictors of whether plant species will survive there in the future, says the report.”

Click to read the full story…

Happy faces at Labrador Rocky Shore

Our new, second-year ecology course, LSM2251, had students visit the Labrador Rocky Shore to study the flora, fauna and zonation there. It was nice leading an evening trip once again and to the rocky shore there. E-learning week helped as students did not have to rush from a previous lecture!

Group A1

Group A2

Group A3

Group A4

Group A5

Support Crew

This field trip arose after discovering most of the class had not studied the rocky shore fauna. Of the 42 who visited today, 83% were making their visit there.

They were split into five groups and scattered along the shore to examine the low, middle and upper littoral area. this kept the impact low with them well spaced out. Eventually they did come together on the beach to compare notes. which they will later share over Google Docs.

It was lovely seeing the rocky shore once again with a class. We’ll be back in two weeks time with the other half of the class.

More photos on Flickr.

Update – Son just passed me his lovely photos; also on Flickr.

Bicky is happy about his new lab t-shirt!

WHY is he so happy?

Update, 09 Oct 2009:

Front Panel

Back panel

Sam Howard explains,

“The back panel is Rhacophorus pardalis from a photo Dr Bickford took and has (sort of inadvertantly) become the lab emblem. The front panel is a regional map showing gross predictors of the effect of climate change on herpetofaunal species over the next 50(ish) years. It is by no means highly accurate and is a very simplified model accounting for only temperature, precipitation and elevation.

This t-shirt was designed to highlight that probable climate induced impacts which are going to hit these groups hard. Unfortunately the reality is likely to be worse than the simple model once factors such as continued deforestation etc. are accounted for.”

So he’s happy he is helping to get the message across but definitely not about the situation. Battle on comrades!

Teaching award recipients 2008/9

28 Sep 2009 – News from Rudolf Meier:

“I am very happy to convey the news about teaching in AY2008/2009. DBS did very well and received the largest number of faculty teaching awards for any FOS [Faculty of Science] department (7). We also topped the list for part-time TA awards.

With best wishes,

Rudolf Meier”

—

Faculty Teaching Excellence Award Winners

• Dr Chew Fook Tim
• Prof Chou Loke Ming
• Dr Lam Siew Hong
• A/P Loh Chiang Shiong
• Mr N Sivasothi
• Dr Seow Teck Keong
• A/P Yu Hao

Faculty Honour Roll Inductions

• Prof Ip Yuen Kwong, Alex
• A/P Rudolf Meier

TA (Part Time) Winners

• Ang Hui Fang Andie
• Ang Yuchen
• Hee Kim Hor Daryl
• Lim Shimin Gwynne
• Loong Ai May
• Jose Christopher E. Mendoza
• Ng Yi Hui Eunice
• Laura Yap Yen Ling
• Tok Chia Yee

Staff, students and alumni at the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore @ Pandan mangrove

Over three Saturdays in September, some 40 organisations hit the beaches and mangroves around Singapore as part of the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore in an effort to count, categorise and collect marine trash.

This data which is reported to the international coordinator, Ocean Conservancy, to create awareness, effect policy change and provide material for public education. Around the world, 70-100 countries take part annually

The Singapore programme is in its 18th year and I have been national coordinator since 2000 as a result of seeing so much trash in the mangroves! After more than ten years of mangrove cleanups, I finally turned my attention to Sungei Pandan mangrove in 2008. This tiny remnant strip nearby campus has accumulated a heavy load of trash over the years.

Partnering department alumni, staff and students who anchor this cleanup is Wildlife Reserves Singapore (Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park), our co-founding ICC partners at this site – and they count some of our alumni amongst their staff!

Here are some photos from the cleanup featuring some familiar faces – the rest are at the Habitatnews Flickr album and WRS photos are on Fotki. Data results are on the ICCS webpage.

Lots more out there so join us at Lim Chua Kang (Jul/Aug) and Pandan (Sep) next year. Just join the mailing list on the ICCS webpage and I’ll alert you next year.

Pandan mangrove

Getting ready at 7.45am at the Jalan Buroh bus-stop

Getting ready – two of the ‘Indpendents’ and Adrian Loo (alumni)

Weiting (hons) taking a break from her thesis in the mangrove core!

Robert (postgrad) too worked in the depth of the mangrove

Yea Tian (hons) kept up with the mangrove core team to record data

Trina (hons) was determined to be mosquito-proof

Joelle (staff) and Yandi (alumni) removing a mattress

Biswajit (alumni/WRS) wading in

Anne and Trina (hons) and Yandi (alumni) rescuing a volunteer

Anne Devan (hons) in action!

Yea Tian (hons) and Xuiling (2nd year) weighing and recording trash
with the hard working ‘Independents’

DBS Crew with Independents

Sivasothi (staff) with Biswajit and Desmond (alumni/WRS)
and WRS coordinator Charlotte.

Glove cleaning – recycling the welder’s gloves for next year
Alison Wee (postgrad and ICCS Penang liason), N. Sivasothi (ICCS Coordinator)
and Teo Yea Tian (hons) facing camera

At NIE LT3 today, 6.30pm: World Food Prize laureate MV Gupta on ‘Freshwater Aquaculture and global demand.’

“Freshwater Aquaculture – Prospects and Challenges for meeting the global demand.”

By Dr. M. Vijaya Gupta Ph.D, D.Sc (Hon)
World Food Prize Laureate
Assistant Director General, WorldFish Center (Retd.)
Senior Research Fellow, WorldFish Center, Malaysia

Tue 15 Sep 2009: 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm.
Venue: LT3, Block 7 Science Block, NIE, NTU
Click to see Map

Thanks to Shirley Lim, NIE/NTU, for the invitation.

About the speaker:.

“Through his dedicated and sustained efforts in Bangladesh, Laos and other countries in Southeast Asia , Dr. Gupta made small scale aquaculture a viable means for over one million very poor farmers and women to improve their family’s nutrition and wellbeing,” – Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, 2005.

• See the World Food Prize laureate webpage.
• “Challenges in Sustaining and Increasing Fish Production to Combat Hunger and Poverty in Asia,” by MV Gupta. NAGA, WorldFish Center Quarterly Vol. 29 No. 1 & 2 Jan-Jun 2006 – pdf link.
• “Modadugu Gupta’s Blue Revolution.” Siliconeer, 6(7), 2005.
  

• News link: “Indian fish-farm researcher nets World Food Prize,” by James Njoroge. SciDev.Net, 19 Jul 2005. Gupta’s research focussed on improving rural livelihoods by farming freshwater fish.
  

  Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug [Father of the Green Revolution] set up the World Food Prize in 1986. Each year, it honours individuals who have made “vital contributions to improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food throughout the world”.

  Modadugu V. Gupta, who recently retired from the Malaysia-based WorldFish Centre, spent more than 30 years researching ways of making fish farming a sustainable contributor to rural livelihoods.

  He has won the 2005 World Food Prize for his efforts to introduce fish farming to poor communities across Asia and parts of Africa

  Announcing the US$250,000 award on 13 June, Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, said that thanks to Gupta’s efforts, more than one million Asian farmers had improved their family’s nutrition and well being

  Gupta focused on making it possible for poor farmers to raise fish in freshwater ponds with a minimum of inputs. He showed how farm waste such as weeds or grass could be used in place of costly fish feed and encouraged farmers to alternate agriculture and fish farming on seasonally flooded
  land.

  According to Quinn, Gupta’s efforts brought “the Blue Revolution to those most in need” and led to freshwater fish production increasing by 3-5 times in some developing countries.’

ICCS Pandan mangroves cleanup: Registration for BioD Crew

Pandan mangroves is a remnant strip mangrove in the south-west of Singapore. As it is not looked after, there is a trash build up that is deterimental to the site. The Raffles Museum Toddycats and the BioD Crew (NUS) and Wildlife Reserve Singapore are conducting a cleanup for the second year under the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore. This year we will be joined by some trainees from the Singapore Police Force.

The deeper parts of the inlet is a tough and dirty site to tackle, with no shelters or toilets but soft mud, lots of mosquitoes in tide pools and some snakes instead! We will work rain or shine and are restricting numbers to reduce impact.

This cleanup is not for the faint-hearted but the Biodiversity Crew and Raffles Museum Toddycats who are up for it are invited to sign up at here:

Saturday, 12th September 2009: 7.20am – 11.00am
International Coastal Cleanup Singapore:
Pandan Mangroves
Register at: http://tinyurl.com/iccspandan2009

Photo by Kelly Ong

Itinerary:

• 0710 – bus pick up at NUS
• 0720 – bus pick-up from Dover MRT (one stop west after Buona Vista)
• 0800 – reach Pandan mangroves bus stop; distribute into sub-groups, apply insect repellent, collect gloves, data cards and trash bags.
• 0810 – Safety Briefing, identification of the Trash Weighing Point (TWP), wet weather plan (carry on unless lightning threat)
• 0820 – Cleanup begins.
• 0845 – Loading teams start moving trash to the TWP
• 1000 – clean-up ends, data collation beings, weighing completed while participants evaluate the situation at Pandan.
• 1015 – participants clean themselves up – note no washing point, so bring a bottle of tap water and a change of footwear.
• 1045 – Pack dirty gloves to bring back wash, dry and return.
• 1100 – Bus returns to Clementi and then NUS.

What we will provide:

1. Transport to site.
2. Gloves.
3. Trash bags.
4. Weighing scales.

What you should bring:

1. Booties or covered shoes with hard soles.
2. Water bottle (at least one litre of water).
3. A snack to munch on after the cleanup, especially if you didn’t have time for breakfast!
4. Hat.
5. Insect repellent
6. Raincoat/ponco (we’ll carry on working in the rain)
7. Towel in a bag – to wipe off any sand and mud off you.
8. A light pair of long pants will help protect your legs from insect bites if you tend to get bitten, as well as from the debris.
9. A suggestion – dry fit clothes are suitable. If you prefer cotton, a change of t-shirt will come in handy after a sweaty workout.

Transport:
Registered participants can meet us at either

1. the NUS bus stop outside Science Drive 1 (7.10am; meet Otterman) or
2. Dover MRT Station bus stop on side of Singapore Polytechnic (heading west) (7.20am; meet Kelly Ong).

7.10am Pick Up Point – Meet N. Sivasothi a.k.a. Otterman

7.20am Pick up Point – Meet Kelly Ong.

Cleanup location concentration

Welcome back Darren!

Darren Yeo is back after two years at Notre Dame. Welcome back, dude!