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Ahyong,
Shane
Anker
, Arthur
Bartsch,
Ilse
Castro,
Peter
Chan
Tin-Yam
Chou
Wen-Hao
Davie,
Peter
Hayashida,
Akiko
Kottelat,
Maurice
Lin
Chia Wei
Linis,
Virgilio
Markham,
John
Norsham
Yaakob
Pandit,
M. K.
Payne,
Robert B.
Rahayu,
Dwi Listyo
Shekell,
Myron
Affliliation: Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of stomatopod crustaceans
Duration: 4-16 Oct 2004
Host: A/P Peter Ng
Affliliation: Department of Biological Sciences,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of alpheid shrimps
Duration: 7-21 Sep 2004
Host: A/P Peter Ng
Affliliation: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg,
Frankfurt a.M., Germany
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of marine mites (Acari:
Halacaridae)
Duration: 24 Sep-13 Oct 2004
Host: Dr Darren Yeo
Dr. Ilse Bartsch of the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg,
Frankfurt a.M., Germany was invited by Dr. Darren Yeo of the RMBR
to visit the museum from 24 Sep to 13 Oct 2004, to study Singapore’s
marine mite fauna (Acari). Dr Bartsch is a member of the Taxonomische
Arbeitsgruppe, a working group of specialists responsible for
determination of fauna and flora collected by German research
vessels. She has extensive experience in ecology, biology, taxonomy,
biogeography of meio- and macrobenthos, including ophiuroids,
copepods, nemerteans, and myzostomids; and has over 200 publications
on these subjects. Dr Bartsch’s current interest and speciality,
however, is in the ecology and systematics of marine mites of
the family Halacaridae, a group of invertebrates that has never
been studied in this part of the world.
Dr Bartsch made intertidal field collections
from various coastal habitats (mangroves, sandy beach, and rocky
shore) around Singapore island, including Pandan, Punggol, Lim
Chu Kang, Labrador Beach, East Coast Park and West Coast Park.
She also spent 4 days sampling the various intertidal habitats
on St John’s Island, with the generous support of the Tropical
Marine Science Institute (TMSI). Lab work, which involved processing,
sorting and rough identification of samples, was carried out at
the Zoological Reference Collection of the RMBR as well as at
TMSI (St John’s Island). Preliminary analysis of the samples
collected indicates that there may be up to 20 species in seven
genera of halacarid mites in Singapore. Dr Bartsch has brought
the samples back to Germany for more detailed observations and
confirmation of identities, following which, a report will be
published.
Dr Bartsch presented a seminar on 6 Oct 2004
at the DBS Conference Room for a session of the Biodiversity and
Ecology Journal Club of the Department of Biological Sciences.
The seminar was entitled "Mites (Acari) in the marine littoral,
an introduction", and it concluded with viewing of live specimens
of various marine mite species.
Affliliation: Biological Sciences Department,
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, USA
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of marine crabs
Duration: 18 Oct-18 Nov 2004
Host: A/P Peter Ng/Tan Swee Hee
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Affliliation: National Taiwan Ocean University,
Taiwan
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of lobsters, shrimps
and galatheids
Duration: 8-11 Sep 2004
Host: A/P Peter Ng
Affliliation: National Museum of Natural Science,
Taiwan
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of frogs
Duration: 15-16 Sep 2004
Host: Mr Leong Tzi Ming
Affliliation: Queensland Museum, South Brisbane,
Queensland, Australia
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of marine crabs
Duration: 1-27 Nov 2004
Host: A/P Peter Ng
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Affliliation: Obihiro University of Agriculture
and Veterinary Medicine
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of squirrels
Duration: Jul 2004
Host: Ms Lua Hui Kheng/Mr Kelvin Lim
Affliliation: Independent Consultant; RMBR Honorary
Research Associate
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of freshwater fishes
Duration: 23 Sep-24 Oct 2004
Host: Mr Kelvin Lim
Dr. Maurice Kottelat (Cornol, Switzerland), an
expert on freshwater fishes, was on visiting attachments to the
RMBR in Mar and Sep/Oct 2004 to conduct collaborative research
with his hosts, resident ichthyologists, Mr Kelvin Lim and Dr
Tan Heok Hui. Dr Kottelat, who specializes in fish taxonomy and
ecology, is an independent consultant on aquatic biodiversity;
he is also an Honorary Research Associate of the RMBR, and President
of the European Ichthyological Society. He has written over 200
scientific papers on fish taxonomy, and eight books on fish diversity
(freshwater fishes of Western Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos); and has
over 24 years of field experience on freshwater fish fauna of
Eurasia. In addition, he is Editor of the journal Ichthyological
Exploration of Freshwaters; and Editorial Board member of
the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
The primary objectives of Dr Kottelat’s
visits were to work on the taxonomy of fishes from Sumatra, Borneo,
Myanmar and China, which involved examination of fish specimens
at RMBR. As a result of these studies, several manuscripts have
been completed and submitted for review to journals.
In addition his taxonomic work at RMBR, Dr Kottelat
also participated in the ALL CATFISH SPECIES INVENTORY Workshop
(Asian Chapter) held at the NUS in Apr 2004; and carried out editing
and reviewing of manuscripts for the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
Dr Kottelat also gave a lecture on 7 Oct 2004
entitled “Fish and dams in Laos – Field studies in
environmental assessments and conservation” to a class of
graduate students from the Department of Biological Sciences (DBS),
as part of the graduate module on Field Study Techniques (BL5219).
The lecture was concurrently run as a session of the Biodiversity
and Ecology Journal Club of the DBS, NUS.
Affliliation: De LaSalle University, Manila,
Philippines
Research topic: Moss diversity of Mariveles Mountain Range in
Bataan Province, Luzon Island, Philippines
Duration: 8-22 Aug 2004
Host: A/P Benito Tan
Prof. Virgilio Linis, a bryologist from the Department
of Biology at De la Salle University in Manila, The Philippines,
visited RMBR under the visiting attachment programme from 8-21
Aug 2004 at the invitation of A/P Benito Tan.
Prof Linis’ field of expertise is in Bryology
and Plant conservation. The aims of this visit were to work with
his host, A/P Benito C. Tan, on his large collections of mosses
made from Zambales Moutnain Range and Mt Arayat in western and
central Luzon Island of the Philippines.
Lab work mainly involved identifying mosses from
the many difficult Philippine moss collections. This took place
at the Cryptogam Laboratory and SINU Herbarium. Preliminary findings
from the studies here include the discovery of two new species
records and one species new to science for the Philippine moss
flora, amongst the hundreds of moss collections studied. More
than 50 species records were confirmed for the little known Zambales
mountains in Luzon. These results were presented orally by Prof.
Linis in a special cryptogam session at the Flora Malesiana symposium
held in the Philippines from Sept 20-24 2004. Following which,
the data will be jointly published by the two collaborators.
As a continuation of the work done and results
achieved during this visit, Prof Linis and A/P Benito also discussed
future collaborative field work in Zambales Mountain Range and
nearby places in western Luzon.
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Affliliation: Arch Cape Marine Laboratory, Oregon
USA
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of Isopoda Bopyridae
Duration: 2-6 Mar 2004
Host: A/P Peter Ng/Mr Yeo Keng Loo
Affliliation: Centre for Inter-disciplinary
Studies of Mountain & Hill Environment, University of Delhi,
India
Research topic: Relationship between polyploidy and invasiveness
of common weeds in Singapore
Duration: 21 Jun-21 Jul 2004
Host: A/P Hugh Tan
Prof M. K. Pandit, a conservation and evolutionary
biologist from the Centre for Inter-disciplinary Studies of Mountain
& Hill Environment, University of Delhi, visited RMBR under
the visiting attachment programme from 21 Jun-21 Jul 2004 at the
invitation of A/P Hugh Tan. Prof Pandit, who obtained his PhD
from the University of Dehli, specializes in Conservation Biology,
Evolutionary Biology, Biodiversity Conservation & Management,
and Environment Impact Assessment.
The objectives of the visit included conducting
collaborative research with A/P Hugh Tan on a chromosome atlas
of the angiosperms of Singapore; a cytological study of the invasive
plant species of Singapore; and a cytological study of Rafflesia
cantleyi Solms-Laubach (Rafflesiaceae). The work on these
projects is ongoing, with about 40% of the work completed for
all three projects so far. During Prof Pandit’s stay here,
lab work was carried out at Plant Systematics Laboratory, while
field work was carried out at various wasteland sites of Singapore.
In addition to the collaborative work done with
A/P Hugh Tan, new collaborations were initiated between Prof.
Pandit and A/P Navjot Sodhi for research on Himalayan biology
and conservation biology.
Prof Pandit also presented a seminar entitled
“It is sex stupid: loss of sex in Himalayan species”
on 8 Jul 2004 at a session of the Biodiversity and Ecology Journal
Club.
(Curator of Birds and Professor of Zoology, Museum
of University of Michigan, USA)
Research topic: Systematic and taxonomy of Estrildidae and Cuculidae
Duration: 28 Jan - 6 Feb 2004
Host: Mrs Yang Chang Man
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Affliliation: Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of hermit crabs
Duration: Jul 2004
Host: A/P Peter Ng
Affliliation: Center for Biodiversity Studies
and Conservation, University of Indonesia
Research topic: Systematics and taxonomy of tarsiers
Duration: 7 Sep 2004
Host: Mr Kelvin Lim
Malaysia
Research topic: Amphibians
Duration: 4-6 Oct 2004
Host: Mr Kelvin Lim
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