Seminar on Results of Expedition to Gunung Benom

Gunung Benom, the tenth tallest mountain in Malaysia, lies within the Krau Wildlife Reserve, the part of Malaysia where I spent some time last year when I visited Tigga Kingston and her crew that were studying rainforest bats. Because the highlands were a relatively unexplored portion of the reserve, last November the Malaysian Academy of Sciences sponsored an expedition to explore the biological diversity in that region. Today and tomorrow the Academy of Science is sponsoring a public seminar to discuss the results of the expedition.

Juliana Sewani, a Malaysian student who is working on her Ph.D. at Tech, has studied bats at Krau for a number of years so she was invited to give a talk about the Bats of Krau. Because Julie is a Lecturer at the National University of Malaysia (UKM), one of the major research universities in Malaysia, she invited me to come hear her talk so that she could introduce me to some of her colleagues at UKM.

The seminar was held in the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel (pretty posh!) so I had to take two trains and a cab to get there (it took about an hour). I enjoyed seeing how a Malaysian scientific meeting works and I learned some things about some of the amazing critters that are found in the rainforest. In addition to learning more about bats, I saw talks on giant worms (they grow up to 86 cm, the size of snakes!!!), beetles, bugs, other insects, and large mammals.


Commuter train arrives in the station.


Julie intoduced me to several of her colleagues so I feel like I made a good start on my Fulbright Project today. Thanks Julie!



From left to right- Juliana Sewani (TTU and UKM), Nor Azlin Mohd Fauzi (Forest Research Institute Malaysia), Dr. Norhayati Ahmad (Associate Professor, UKM), Dr. Che Aziz Ali (Professor UKM)

From the - You Can't Really Get Too Far From Home Department. As I was waiting for the seminar to start up again after lunch the people working at the Marriott kept trying to direct me to the meeting that was taking place in the adjacent conference room.



Have I ended up back in Lubbock!?! I had to tell them "back off man, I'm a scientist".