Borneo Bound - Sandakan School Days

While in Sandakan, each day of class had us meeting at a dock and setting off in boats in various directions. The daily commute was not terrible.

Not only did the Host Families support our coursework, the community introduced us to their customs and practices. We made fishing nets and weaved birds from palm fronds.

And, they taught us spin tops!

When not deliberately learning about the culture, it seeped in during our day to day activities. There are caves where multiple species of swiftlets nest. These are the nests that are harvested for Bird's Nest Soup, an expensive delicacy. The nests are harvested by climbing ladders that are held in place with a series of ropes. (The bird pictured below is a swallow, a relative of the swifts.)

There are both small and large caves. Pictured below is one of the larger caves that is home to swiftlets, bats, and all sorts of insects.

There are long term orangutan studies underway here, as well. Not surprising, it is difficult to see orangutans in the wild. They can hear us stomping along and slip away without us ever noticing. However, there is one mom and baby pair that has become accustomed to the researchers and let us observe them quietly.

Even though I was blown away by each of these sites, nothing effected me quite like the women of HUTAN. You will have to see the post on the "Badass Women of HUTAN" for more on that.

Borneo Bound - Sandakan Home Stay

This is where we met our new families! We would be spending our time here with Muslim host families; who took amazingly good care of us.  Momma Saloma made us feel right at home with tasty meals and rides to and from school each day.  She even left us notes in our lunch.

On our last night with our Sandakan family, they dressed us up for a farewell celebration. Thanks for all the love and support, Momma Saloma!

 

Borneo Bound - Settling in, Sepilok

For my third Earth Expeditions class, as part of my graduate program at Miami University of Ohio, I traveled to Borneo, Malaysia with about 20 other biology students and 2 instructors.  There is no possible way that I can do justice to the sights and experiences of this trip in a simple blog post. So, if we should cross paths, please ask me about it. I would love to share with you stories of the amazing people who hosted us, the beauty of Borneo's biodiversity and the endless possibilities of Project Dragonfly.

In mid-June, we all converged at the Sepilok Bed and Breakfast, to meet for the first time. It was not easy getting there. But, after spending half a day at the Istanbul Airport and sleeping in a capsule at the Kuala Lumpur Airport, I arrived in Sepilok five minutes before meeting time. This is me after 47 hours of travel with some of my classmates (and new friends) milling about behind me.


After introductions and orientation, we set out on foot to see the sites.

Our first stop was the Borneon Sunbear Conservation Center.  The Center floored me with its thoughtfulness and design. The elevated walkways were designed so that you could comfortably walk barefoot.

There were a number of Sun Bears sauntering around, some relaxing in trees, others scratching at the ground looking for tasty morsels.

This picture shows some Sun Bear claw marks on a tree.

 After the Sun Bear Center, we stopped at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center.  There are regular feedings at the center, which give great opportunities to see Orangutans in a semi-natural setting.

Our last stop was the Rainforest Discovery Center. This beautifully designed center is replete with elevated walkways that offer unique views into the treetops.

It was hot and humid. We all sweat. A lot. And some of us (me being one of them), had just finished a long journey to get here. We soon crashed, trying to rest up before we set for Sandakan to meet our host families.

Native Plant Sales and Lists

Here are some great resources for native plant sales and lists of plants for you to use in your yard!

If you know of more, please let me know!

Chattahoochee Nature Center - The Chattahoochee Nature Center has a plant sale each spring. It is a great opportunity to snag some locally sourced native beauties!

Georgia Native Plant Society  - Check out their list of sources for native plants. Also, watch this site for their annual spring plant sale!

Georgia Ornithological Society  - The Georgia Ornithological Society came up with a list of native plants that are attractive for birds!

Atlanta Area Plant Conservation Groups

This is just a beginning. Please share with me other organizations that you know about that support our natural environments here in Georgia!!

http://www.atlantaaudubon.org/

http://chattnaturecenter.org/

http://www.gabotsoc.org/

http://www.gaeppc.org/

http://gnps.org/

www.gos.org

treesatlanta.org

Books on Native Plants

Here in Georgia, we are lucky to have some really conservation botanists who have pulled together amazing resources for us! In addition to Georgia-centric books, I have also included some books from other areas that are really great! 

Bring Nature Home - Dr. Douglas Tallamy, Entomology Professor at the University of Delaware, has created a book that shows us how and why we should use native plants in our yard.

Forest Plants of the Southeast - This book has been a bible of sorts for me for quite some time. It covers a wide array of common native plants in our area.

Native Tress of of the Southeast - This book can help you become a native tree expert, if you want to! Learn how to identify trees even in the winter!

Natural Communities of Georgia - This is an updated version of Dr. Wharton's Natural Environments of Georgia. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It not only describes the habitats we have here in Georgia, it tells you where to go to see the habitats being described. If you want to learn more about the natural areas of Georgia, this is a book you need!

If there are other books that you adore that I have not included here, please let me know in the comments below!

Namibia - Land of Conservation

This summer, I traveled with Project Dragonfly (https://www.projectdragonfly.org/) to Namibia. Why Namibia, you ask? I asked myself the same thing. Although I did not really have the answer to that question before I went, I was happy to travel to a place that I never expected to see in my life. So, I packed my bags and off I went.

My first view of Namibia was from the plane, as we flew past my destination to the Johannesburg Airport.

On the plane, I met some researchers who were traveling to Namibia to gather some data in support of the theory known as Snowball Earth; which theorizes that at one point, the entire earth was iced over, looking like a snowball. There are areas in northern Namibia where some very old rock is exposed, allowing for them to be extracted and studied. For more information on this theory, check out the website http://www.snowballearth.org/.

The morning of July 3, I gathered with a group of 20 or so strangers, with whom I would explore Namibia. Our destination: the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

The Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), founded and directed by Dr. Laurie Marker, works tirelessly to preserve the natural populations of Cheetahs in Namibia. They do this through education, research and more education. The drive, collaboration, insight and experience of the CCF team is truly impressive and inspirational.

Feeding cheetahs.

Vet staff conducing a physical.

Analyzing sperm.

Discussing genetics.

Cheetah tracking data.

Cheetah radio-collar.

You can see more pictures of CCF at my website http://ageorgianaturalist.weebly.com/ or at the CCF website http://cheetah.org/. Of course the strangers of July 3rd became close friends and fellow explorers.

Although I have always known education to be key for successful conservation, I have never seen it done in such a real way as I did at CCF. The CCF staff works directly with local cattle farmers, who sometimes trap and kill cheetahs, to educate them on how to protect their cattle while also allowing the cheetahs to live alongside them. When you have half a day, ask me to tell you about it. You will be impressed. I promise.

The efforts of Dr. Laurie Marker and the incredible conservation biologists that work alongside her are making great strides in conserving not only cheetahs, but native ecosystems, which benefit all.

Thank you, Dr. Marker! And thank you, Project Dragonfly!