Borneo: Primate Conservation

Nestled in the Malay Archipelago, tropical Borneo has captured the imaginations of explorers and naturalists for centuries. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and home to remarkable cultural and ecological diversity. Borneo’s primate community is exceptionally rich—the Earth Expeditions course site along the Kinabatangan River in Sabah (East Malaysia) is home to ten primate species, including proboscis monkeys, which occur only in Borneo, two species of leaf monkey, two species of macaque, gibbons, as well as the large-eyed, nocturnal tarsier and slow loris. Of greatest conservation concern is the orangutan, which occurs naturally on only two islands in the world, Borneo and Sumatra, and is under increasingly severe pressure, primarily from habitat loss. Researchers have projected that the orangutan, the only great ape in Asia, may completely vanish from the wild within two decades.

We will join researchers from the NGO Hutan and the Danau Girang Field Centre, and villagers of the Kinabatangan region who are responsible for model community-based efforts to preserve orangutans, Bornean pygmy elephants, and other species. In addition to becoming familiar with primatological field methods and their applications, students in the course will work with local groups and develop new ways to engage communities worldwide in saving orangutans and other wildlife. Possible field studies include: social behavior of primates, habitat selection, census methods, impact of forest fragmentation and reforestation, and the use of social networks in great-ape conservation campaigns.

Prior to and following the field experience in Borneo, students will complete coursework via Canvas, Miami University's learning management system as they apply experiences to their home institutions.

Sukau and the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary

The Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary consists of approximately 27,000 hectares of fragmented forest along the banks of the mighty Kinabatangan River. We will work with the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project (KOCP), founded in 1998 by Drs. Marc Ancrenaz and Isabelle Lackman of Hutan, a French non-governmental organization, in collaboration with the Sabah Wildlife Department. KOPC is run by trained staff from the nearby village of Sukau and has been the source of significant data regarding the ecology and behavior of wild orangutans in secondary forest habitats. KOCP seeks to restore harmonious relationships between people and the orangutan and supports local socio-economic development compatible with habitat and wildlife conservation.

Danau Girang Field Centre

Located in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, this modern research facility, directed by Dr. Benoit Goossens and supported by Cardiff University and the Sabah Wildlife Department, is surrounded by a mixture of lowland dipterocarp forest types, ranging from primary forest to disturbed secondary forest, in a matrix landscape that includes significant human impact including villages, small-scale agriculture, and oil palm plantations. It is thus an ideal location to study wildlife and the effects of anthropogenic habitat alteration on biodiversity.

Earth Expeditions student groups are regularly featured in Danau Girang’s newsletter The Jungle Times!

(Course locations are subject to change.)

In addition to covering the price for five graduate credits of Miami University tuition, field course costs cover all basic expenses, including:

• Meals (incidental snacks and drinks not included)
• Lodging
• Field station fees
• Course activities (optional activities are not included)
• Ground transportation (van, boat, train, etc., as needed)
• Park entrance and guide fees

Course costs do not cover personal expenses, such as airfare to the course, personal gifts, or ancillary costs, such as passport fees, country entry fees, required course readers, and any additional course texts.

Airfare: To estimate fares applicants may wish to visit an online fare finder or call a travel agent. Bear in mind that airlines have seasonal fluctuations in fares.

Miami University also requires all international workshop participants to purchase travel health insurance for about $40. (Successful applicants will receive more details in their Web-Based Learning Community course workshop.) In some classes an additional textbook is required. In some countries, you may have to pay entrance and departure taxes/fees at the airport.

Because of support from Miami University, the course costs listed above are a fraction of actual program costs. Earth Expeditions recommends that accepted applicants to the program check with their school district or employer to see if professional development funds are available to further offset costs.

We offer some further ideas on Helping to Fund your Degree and Scholarships for Current Dragonfly Students

The 2-credit follow-on course, Inquiry & Action, puts the Earth Expeditions course ideas and concepts into practice. Students in this course will choose a research topic and construct a multidisciplinary semester-long project of their choice that includes inquiry-driven learning, participatory education, and community-based conservation to experience and promote action in real-world contexts. Students will connect and collaborate with peers and their instructional team throughout the semester working to make a positive difference in their local communities. This class is a required part of the Global Field Program (GFP) master's course sequence. Inquiry & Action is recommended though optional for non-GFP students.

Course cost: $910 (2 credits)

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