School of Science

Education

Education Strength - Tropical Biology

Education Strength - Tropical Biology

Introduction

The combined threats of climate change, habitat destruction and human population growth are affecting tropical ecosystems in a variety of complex ways. Biologists and Environmental Scientists who work in tropical regions need to understand the nature of tropical environments and the ways in which the physical environment affects the organisms that live in topical habitats. Tropical Biology is a dynamic and exciting field of biological research, but opportunities for students to undertake undergraduate and postgraduate studies in tropical regions are limited. MONASH University, Sunway campus is perfectly positioned to provide high quality tertiary educational services in this field and we can provide excellent opportunities for students to come to Sunway through the MONASH Passport Scheme. The Education Strength in Tropical Biology will enhance the quality and diversity of training for Malaysian-based students. A critical component of this education strength is the use of field and laboratory based classes and assessment tasks. Through the careful and considered incorporation of these elements into the undergraduate teaching curriculum in the School of Science, it is our aim to develop a revised and enhanced suite of units that will equip our graduates with the necessary skills to become outstanding Tropical Biology graduates.

Click here to read about the Field Trip by the Tropical Aquatic Biology Class of 2011.

Objectives

The education strength in Tropical Biology has several key objectives. These are as follows :

To develop a relevant, exciting and appropriate undergraduate curriculum in Tropical Biology that takes advantage of the equatorial location of MONASH University, Sunway campus and the expertise of the teaching staff of the School of Science.
To use laboratory and field-based teaching methods to provide hands-on learning experiences, thereby providing students with the basic skills needed to be a competent Tropical Biologist.
To prepare students studying in this field for honours and higher degree research, with an emphasis on field and laboratory based research skills.
To maximise the competitiveness of graduates in this field, to enhance their career prospects, both in Malaysia and abroad.
To provide undergraduate students with exposure to a wide range of ecological and environmental concepts that can be linked to studies in other fields.
To attract students from other MONASH University campuses to study Tropical Biology at MONASH University, Sunway campus and to conduct joint field-based learning activities with students studying at other campuses.
To draw on external resources and expertise where appropriate to enhance the quality of education in Tropical Biology wherever possible.
To establish a field study centre in a Malaysian national park to facilitate field-based education and research outcomes.

Members

	Dr Charles Clarke (Leader) Lecturer Dr Charles Clarke is an Ecologist who has teaching and research interests in tropical ecosystems and animal-plant interactions. He has taught a very wide range of subjects in Ecology and Environmental Science at undergraduate level in universities in Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia since 1993. Dr Clarke has conducted field research on tropical plants, animals and ecosytems in Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Sumatra and northern Australia. At present, his research involves the colonisation of phytotelmata (plant-held water bodies) by Aedes mosquitoes, interactions between tree shrews and pitcher plants, and the effects of habitat disturbance on tropical animal communities. Location for recent research projects include Kinabalu and Gunung Mulu Parks in Borneo, Genting and Cameron Highlands, and even the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown.
	Dr Catherine Yule Associate Professor and Deputy, Head of School (Education) Dr Catherine Yule has lived in the tropics since 1990 when she moved from Australia to Bougainville Island in Papua Ned Guinea, where she did the research for her PhD. After living to Borneo for 5 years where she was friends with an orang utan, she moved to Malaysia where she has been at the Sunway campus since 1999. This has provided excellent opportunities for student research and undergraduate field trips to tropical ecosystems. Dr Yule specializes in tropical aquatic ecology. Her present research focuses on tropical peat swamp forests, an extreme and endangered environment. She and her students have discovered new species of algae, fungi and invertebrates, including forms never before observed. Recently many of her students have been involved in a study funded by National Geographic comparing the ecology of tropical and temperate streams.
	Associate Professor Lim Yau Yan Associate Professor Associate Professor Lim is a chemist who has taught a wide range of chemistry subjects including Environmental chemistry for nearly a decade in MONASH University, Sunway campus. His recent research interest is on the bioactivities of tropical herbal plants. His research projects involve screening of plants for bioactivities, isolation and identification of active compounds by chromatography and spectroscopic techniques. The research also focuses on the environmental effects on the bioactivities of tropical plants.
	Dr. Juan Joon Ching Lecturer Dr. Juan received his PhD degree in Chemistry from National University of Malaysia in 2008. He has been teaching wide variety of subjects in chemistry including environmental chemistry. Dr. Juan researches interested are focused around catalysis and environmental remediation. This includes heterogeneous catalyst, biocatalyst and water treatment. His current research fields are the experimental investigation of the enzyme properties in interesterification and esterification reactions, the efficiency of functionalized silica in removing toxic heavy metals and the properties of nano oxide metal in various chemical reactions.
	Professor Gary Dykes Discipline Head (Food Science and Nutrition) and Acting Deputy, Head of School (Research) Professor Gary Dykes is a microbiologist who has focused his teaching and research interests on food microbiology but also has a broad interest in microbial ecology. He has worked in research institutes and universities in a number of of countries including New Zealand, Canada and Australia before taking up his current position in Malaysia. Living in the tropics has sparekd his interest in tropical microbiology, in particular the way in which microbes interact with plants, animals and people in Malaysia. He is currently working with students to investigate the way humans impact specific microbial populations of soils, lizards, birds and mammals. He is also part of a team developing a new undergraduate unit in Tropical Microbiology.
	Dr. Adeline Ting Lecturer Dr Adeline has great interest in sourcing for beneficial microbes from the environment for purposeful manipulation and use in the agricultural and environmental sectors. She isolates microbes with biocontrol properties, studies their interactions with plants and also develop suitable formulations to enable the use of these microbes as bio-based products. Her other interest is in sourcing for microbes for bioremediation purposes, as microbes in the tropics have a wide range of tolerance to the various environmental stress, which provides a strategic approach to bioremediation.
	Professor Chris Austin Lecturer Prof Chris Austin is a biodiversity specialist who has worked in many different parts of the world but most recently in tropical Australia (Darwin). He has also worked extensively in Indonesia, including Papua and in Vietnam. The focus of his teaching and research has been to understand and investigate biodiversity from evolutionary, biogeographic, taxonomic and population genetic perspectives and he makes extensive use of molecular genetic data (eg DNA sequencing). Prof Austin is also interested in the sustainable management and production of commercially important aquatic species (fish, crustaceans and molluscs) to enhance food security. He has taught a range of subjects across all undergraduate and postgraduate levels including introductory biology (diversity, evolution and genetics), conservation genetics and molecular ecology, biostatistics and aquaculture and fisheries management. Prof Austin mostly conducts his research on marine, coastal and freshwater species.
	Dr Robyn Wilson Lecturer Dr Robyn reseach interests are in in natural resource and environmental management. She has a diverse research portfolio centered around anthropogenic impacts and identifying mitigation or adaptation strategies to them. Her research includes studies of abundance and distribution of waterfowl; impacts of linear barriers (roads and powerline corridors) on movements of arboreal mammals; impacts of tourism (spotlights and noise) on nocturnal wildlife; impact of climate change on Australia's major tourist destinations, and on Australis's forest and identifying adapation strategies to this.