conference

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Conservation Asia 2016: conference scholarships for Singapore students working on urban ecology

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From Roman Carrasco, NUS DBS:

Dear all,
City Developments Limited Urban has made a donation to the ATBC–SCB Asia conference to support scholarships that cover the registration cost of conference.
The criteria for application, in order of priority are:

  • Singaporean students working on urban ecology
  • Singapore-based students working on urban ecology
  • Singaporean students working on environmental biology

Please check the website of the conference for details on documents needed to apply: http://www.conservationasia2016.org/#!scholarships/c5e2

Please email me your documents to be considered for the scholarship.

Thanks,

Roman

L. Roman Carrasco, PhD
Assistant Professor in Bioeconomics
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
14 Science Drive 4, 117543, Singapore
Tel: +65 66011145
Skype: roman-carrasco
Website: http://www.dbs.nus.edu.sg/staff/roman.html

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Climate Change Adaptation: Aquatic Invasives and Coastal Restoration Symposium, 26-27 February 2014

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

On behalf of the organising committee from NUS, TMSI, and NParks, we wish to invite you to join us for:

Climate Change Adaptation: Aquatic Invasives and Coastal Restoration Symposium

Date: Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th February 2014
Time: 9:00am – 4:30pm (Registration on the first day, 26 February, at 8:30am)
Venue: Botany Centre Function Hall, Singapore Botanic Gardens (entrance near Gleneagles Hospital)

Climate change Adaptation

Overview: Climate change is predicted to have multiple impacts on the aquatic environment. Two areas of relevance to Singapore’s aquatic environments are aquatic invasive species and coastal modification. Climate change can potentially facilitate biological invasions through its effects on various stages of the invasion process. For example through the modification of

introduction pathways, environmental constraints on establishment/spread of invasive species, distributions of introduced populations, invasive species impacts, and the susceptibility of invasive species to management. In coastal ecosystems, sea level rise and increases in extreme weather events result in a concomitant demand for coastal defences including sea walls and similar armour. Furthermore increases in sea surface temperature are predicted to have negative effects on near shore habitats, especially tropical coral reefs and associated ecosystems. A greater understanding of aquatic invasive species and the state of coastal the coastal environment will facilitate ongoing and future conservation management efforts.

Speakers: There will be keynote presentations as well as shorter talks on both areas by leading international experts, local researchers and agencies.

The mix of talks on aquatic invasives and coastal restoration is aimed at disseminating information to researchers, students, planners, managers, relevant/interested government agencies, and the general public.

We hope that you will be able to join us and interact with the topical experts. We would be most grateful for your RSVP to http://tinyurl.com/climatechangesymposium-2014 by the 12th February 2014.

Best regards from the Organising Committee,
Darren Yeo, Peter Todd, Zeng Yiwen, Neo Mei Lin

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Biodiversity crew at the 18th BSGC 6-8 January 2014

The Biological Sciences Graduate Congress is an annual congress organized by three collaborating universities: National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia, and Chulalongkorn University (CU), Thailand.

In this congress, graduate students present their research work from four different themes – Functional Genomics and Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Physiology & Biotechnology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biodiversity, Conservation & Ecology.

This year, eight graduates students from the NUS Biodiversity Crew participated in the 18th BSGC which was hosted by the University of Malaya from 6th to 8th January 2014:

  1. Chan Zhanqi – “UV based female mate choice and the benefits to reproductive success in jumping spider”
  2. Low Bi Wei – “The tables are turned: an invasive species under potential threat”
  3. Ng Ting Hui – “One or more bad apples? Native, introduced, and cryptogenic Ampullaridae (Gastropoda) of Singapore”
  4. Tang Qian – “Population genetic study reveals three major entries of the German cockroach (Blatella germanica) in Eastern Asia”
  5. Wang Chengna – “Global comparison of influenza vaccine cost-effectiveness between low and high income countries and different age-groups”
  6. Fung Tze Kwan – “The diet of the common palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Pallas, 1777) in urban and forested environments in Singapore”
  7. Ye Guanqiong – “Evaluating the performance of integrated coastal management in China’s coastal cities”
  8. Hou Chia-Yi – “Country level risk of infectious disease emergence and allocation of international health aid”
Ng Ting Hui presenting her work on apple snails.

Ng Ting Hui presenting her work on apple snails.

Low Bi Wei and his work on Clarias batrachus

Low Bi Wei and his work on Clarias batrachus

While we were at University of Malaya, we took the opportunity to visit their Museum of Zoology and we were hosted by their friendly museum staff – Thary and Khairunnisa who kindly took us on a guided tour.

Common palm civet skin

Common palm civet skins from the mammal collection

On the last day of the congress, we had a short field trip to Taman Wetlands at Putrajaya and the Putra Mosque.

We wished we had more time to explore Taman Wetlands!

We wished we had more time to explore Taman Wetlands!

The congress provided a great opportunity for us to learn from the diversity of research topics that were presented and it definitely served as an excellent platform for us to share about our research work. The next BSGC will be hosted by NUS and graduate students should not miss this opportunity to present your research and to make friends with like-minded people!

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Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) – Australia, 21-31 January 2013

Message from SCSS-Australia Organising Committee:

“Dear Students in conservation research,

We are holding a “Cambridge-style” Student Conference on Conservation Science in Brisbane, Australia, in late January 2013. We have raised enough funds to fully cover 30 students from those countries that have limited funding options.  

This conference represents an enormous opportunity for students to network and gain skills, as we have programmed an extra week dedicated to workshops.  

Our web site is http://sccs-aus.org/ or find us on twitter: @sccs_aus and facebook: fb.com/sccsaus!”

Cheers,
Luis Verde
Phd Candidate
SCCS Organizing Committee
University of Queensland

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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

Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) 2013 Bangalore
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NUS-Overseas Graduate Scholar awarded first prize at Biology 11, Switzerland

Biology 11 was the joint meeting organized by the Swiss Zoological Society, the Swiss Botanical Society, and the Swiss Systematics Society early this month. This annual meeting is aimed at bringing together biologists devoted to study ecology, evolution, behaviour and systematics in across various taxonomic groups, ranging from Orangutans to Cyanobacteria.

This year, Nalini Puniamoorthy, a recipient of the NUS- Overseas Graduate Scholarships, was awarded the top prize for best talk out of nearly 30 student presentations. Nalini is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at University of Zurich. Her talk entitled “Geographic reversal of sexual size dimorphism in a dung fly, Sepsis punctum” represents a part of her doctoral research, which is aimed at investigating the morphological and behavioral divergence in reproductive traits among widespread species.

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Biodiversity Crew at 15th BSGC

A team of 5 graduate students from the biodiversity crew headed to the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the 15th Biological Sciences Graduate Congress (BSGC) from 15 – 17 Dec 2010.

The annual BSGC is a collaboration between the National University of Singapore, University of Malaya and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), which takes turns to host the event. Graduate students of research institutions from from the 3 hosting nations, Philippines, India, Japan and the United States present their research in the field of Biodiversity and Ecology, Biochemistry and Physiology, Bioinformatics and Biotechnology and Cell and Molecular Biology.

Oral presentation by Toh Tai Chong

The crew was represented by:

  1. Chong Kwek Yan – Using Herbarium Records to Assess Extinction Likelihood.
  2. Chua Aik Hwee Marcus – Can Medium-sized Mammals Co-exist with Man on Pulau Ubin, Singapore.
  3. Ng Jia Jun Daniel – Conservation Challenges of a Critically Endangered Freshwater Crab (Johor singaporensis) in Singapore.
  4. Toh Tai Chong – Optimisation of Ex situ Scleractinian Coral Larval Rearing Techniques for Coral Reef Rehabilitation.
  5. Ye Guanqiong – Restoration of Yundang Lagoon (Xiamen, China): Progress and Challenges.

Chong Kwek Yan from Plant Systematics Lab did us proud by clinching the 1st runner up prize for oral presentations in the biology and biodiversity category. Well done!

Chong Kwek Yan

The 16th BSGC will be hosted by NUS in 2011.