From BioDivBorneo2010
BIODIVERSITY OF BORNEO 2010
COURSE INTRODUCTION
PEOPLE
Faculty
Cam Webb (Arn Arb), Rod Eastwood (OEB), Frank Rheindt (OEB), Chuck
Davis (OEB), [Henry Llames (BNT)], Dave Lohman (CUNY), Kinari Webb
(HIH), Scott Edwards (OEB), Shawn Lum (NIE), Beverly Goh (NIE),
Anne Pringle (OEB), David Johnson (Wellesley), Lauren Ruane (CNU),
Stuart Davies (CTFS). Numerous guest lecturers. Use them!
Students
Alexander Kim (us), Amarasinghe Achchige Thasun Amarasinghe (sl),
Anasuya Chakrabarty (in), Cameron Kirk-Giannini (us), Chen Dexiang
(sg), Christopher Anderson (us), Dyna Rochmyaningsih (id),
Juwinikh Jupain (my), Kazemde George (us), Kimberly O'Donnell
(us), Marian Morris (us), Pagi Toko (pg), Rachel Hawkins (us),
Romadoni Anggoro (id), Sachiko Oshima (us), Samira Rudig-Sotomayor
(de), Sarah Peprah (us), Sopark Jantarit (th), Thien Tam Luong
(vn), Zachary Herring (us).
THE COURSE
Syllabus
Broad introduction to forest types and reefs of Borneo. Plant and
animal groups (insects, birds). Marine taxa and ecology. Forest
management and conservation. Human-forest interactions.
Statistical analysis and research execution. Digital information
tools.
Teaching media
Lectures. Labs. Trips. Three independent projects. Field
observation. Independent reading. Student-student learning.
Outline
Lambir, Rest, Gaya island, Gunung Kinabalu, Rest, Maliau, Rest,
Finish up, Course Presentations. See map.
Key themes
1. Species origins and biogeography
2. Phylogeny and phenotype evolution
3. Habitats and variation in species composition
4. Species interactions and coexistence
5. Land use and biological conservation
6. Biodiversity informatics
Textbook
Tim Whitmore's 1984 `Tropical Rain Forest of the Far East.' We
have obtained permission to scan and photocopy the book from OUP,
and will be providing you with soft copies. Readings are assigned
for various dates. These readings are strongly advised, but will
not be tested. Try to keep up.
ATTITUDE TO TRAVEL, SCHEDULE
This is not Cambridge, MA. Relax and enjoy. Some mishaps will
happen. Schedules will change. Lectures will vary in style. Be
patient and tolerant. But... be on time.
WORK LOAD
A lot to learn, and we want to maximize the opportunities we get.
Expect to work hard. There are heavy patches and light patches,
and a few rest days. At the same time, if you are exhausted, you
will stop learning and the vibe will sag; let us know if it is
getting too much.
CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES
One of the highlights of the course is close contact with people
of other cultures. Invaluable experience, but also challenging.
Varying English skills. Miscommunications will happen. Be
tolerant. More than that, actively engage across national lines.
We may have to engineer this if people are segregating in project
groups, but would rather not.
Non-native English speakers
Please be honest if English is a barrier, if people are speaking
too fast.
Learning Malay
Optional goal, but we can help.
DIET
Vegetarians? All food will be halal. Be sensitive.
DISCIPLINE
Not expected to be an issue, but the faculty represent Harvard,
and standard codes of conduct apply. Academic honesty. You can
be dropped from the course!
No alcohol at course events or in course buildings. Culturally
and academically inappropriate. In town, up to you.
CELL PHONES
No phone during lectures, labs, discussions. Switch off.
BEING GREEN
Please try to reduce waste and pollution on this trip. We will be
trying to run a mainly paper-free course. Should you feel
inclined, we would be grateful if you paid to mitigate your carbon
footprint for air-travel.
FOCAL TAXON
Goal: to get you to look carefully at a group of related species,
as an amateur taxonomist and field naturalist. Within a few days,
pick a taxon. We encourage you to pick one you don't know very
much about. It DOES NOT matter if we don't have resource books in
library. At each forest---Lambir, (Niah), Gaya, Gunung Kinabalu,
Maliau Basin---make observations on your taxon (taxonomic,
ecological, behavioral). Keep a detailed field notebook with
_drawings_ (may be briefly reviewed by staff). Make a digital
report: species (or morphotype) list, brief descriptions, Mesquite
data matrix, ecological notes, site to site distribution,
morphological phylogeny, other notes. I.e., a mini monograph.
See last years' report for examples.
BLOG & LECTURE ABSTRACTS
A `science blog.' Observations of scientific/cultural interest,
and a short precis of any lectures that day. Add comment or
critique (constructively). Every day will be allocated to one person.
PROJECTS
Independent work in groups of 2-3. Plan, present, revise plan,
execute, analyze in R, write up on Wiki, present (OpenOffice).
Draft write-up due before making presentation (or on last day at
Maliau). Peer review done within 1 day. Revised write-up due
2 days after finishing the project.
BIODIVERSITY OBSERVATIONS
We are 20+ people spending 6 weeks in the under-explored rain
forests of Borneo. We can use this opportunity to make a
significant contribution to biodiversity distribution data by
making well-documented observations, even if we cannot identify
what we observe. Please contribute! We will be using the
Semantic MediaWiki extension to our wiki to record our data.
DIGITAL RECORD
The end product of this course will be a wiki site, with the blog,
your homepages, images, focal taxa and project reports. This
multimedia record will be uploaded to the web. You will each be
responsible for your own page and data. We will finish this
digital object before leaving KK. We need volunteers to be
editors.
GEAR, BOOKS
We have a lot of gear. Check with Frank. Please sign out every
piece of gear. Please return all gear to Frank in between
segments so it can be inventoried. Books must NOT be removed from
the resource area.
GRADES
You will receive a single grade for the course, with breakdown:
40% for projects, 30% for taxon observations, blog and digital
record, and 30% for general participation.
FIELD SAFETY
Large group, accidents may happen. When in field, travel in
groups of two or more. If for some reason you must go alone,
leave a detailed route plan on sign-out board, and DO NOT stray
from plan. Always take plenty of water.
In the water, never snorkel alone.
We all have evacuation insurance to nearest quality hospital, via
SOS.
ACUTE HEALTH RISKS
Who has first aid experience?
Treefalls
Look up frequently and especially before resting. Get out of
forest in very big wind.
Allergic reaction from insect stings or rengas
Symptoms of shock, low BP and difficulty breathing. Treat
immediately with epinephrine pen. Know if you are allergic.
Snakebite
Kraits, cobras (neurotoxin) vs. vipers (hemotoxin). Try to
remember what the snake looks like. Wrap limb snugly in cloth.
Lower limb below body. Walk slowly back to camp. Immediate
evacuation to hospital for anti-venin. Do NOT tourniquet, cut
wound, suck venom or any other folk remedy.
Roads
Most dangerous! Be aware walking along roads! Use seatbelts if
available.
OTHER HEALTH ISSUES
Use sunblock. Drink lots of water: 3+ litres, until your urine is
clear! Wash your hands before eating. However, you will probably
get diarrhea once. Drink lots. Don't be miserable on a long bus
ride: if you need to stop, let us know. How to `sh*t in the
woods!'
Malaria, etc, ask faculty.
PHONE NUMBERS
- Cam: 019-869-2027
- Frank: 013-691-9052
- Rod: 010-591-3123
- SOS: +65-6338-7800 (Singapore) +1-215-942-8226 (US)
