Personnel

Lead Researcher

Prof. Indraneil Das

My current research interests include herpetological systematics, community ecology, conservation biology, biogeography, and the history of natural history. These (and other) activities of our Group are supported by Fundamental Research Grants (Ministry of Higher Education, Government of Malaysia), a Shell Chair grant and others (notably, Conservation International, Darwin Initiative for the Conservation of Species, Fauna and Flora International, People’s Trust for Endangered Species, Ramsar Center Japan, United Nations Development Programme / Global Environmental Facility, The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and Volkswagen Stiftung.

Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak
Malaysia
Email: idas[at]ibec.unimas.my
Office: +60 82 582996
Mobile: +60 128301208

Research Associates

Prof. Aaron Bauer

Villanova University, USA
Research Interest: Gekkonid lizard systematics

Home page:
http://www42.homepage.villanova.edu/aaron.bauer/

Prof. Alexander Haas

Biozentrum Grindel und Zoologisches Museum Hamburg, Germany
Research Interest: Evolutionary morphology and systematics of the anuran larvae

Home page:
http://www.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/BioZ/zmh/her/for_e.html

Dr. Stefan Thomas Hertwig

Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern, Switzerland
Research Interest: Phylogenetic systematics of vertebrates

Home page:
http://www.nmbe.ch/informieren/team/wirbeltiere/stefan-hertwig

Dr. Hans Hazebroek
Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Rocks have been the focus of my formal training. While working as a geologist in the tropics I became fascinated with the immensely complex ecosystems that constitute the tropical rain forest, whose ecosystems include the rocks beneath. My enthralment with Borneo’s amazing forests has motivated me to pursue natural history writing and photography for making the wonders of these forests more accessible to others.

Friends of the Herpetofauna Research Group

Hans Breuer

I was born in West Germany, where I studied Sinology, thereafter spending 22 years in Taiwan, as a translator for Mandarin, German and English and starting a translation agency. In 2011, I moved to Kuching. Besides giving talks on snakes to the public, I also operate a website, snakesoftaiwan.com.

Email: habre3[at]gmail.com

Samuel Shonleben

I am interested in Bornean biodiversity and conservation, herpetology in particular, frog systematics, ecology and conservation. I studied zoology at University of Surrey, and subsequently, taxonomy and biodiversity at the Natural History Museum and Imperial College London. I have fieldwork experience in Belize, Central America and Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. My other hobbies are triathlon and esoteric spiritual science. I also like to go herping In Surrey when I get the chance…

Office: +60 82 583801
Mobile: +60 148762973

Graduate Students

Anthony Kegan Pine

I am a master's student that is currently interested in the ecology and conservation of crocodilians in Sarawak. I also have a keen interest in public education and awareness for science, conservation, and endangered species. My current research project focuses on better understanding subaerial habitat structures in rivers of Sarawak and how these underwater habitats and environmental conditions relate to the ecology of crocodiles and endangered river turtles. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or interest.

Marius Joscha Maiwald

My academic interests are in ecology, herpetology and conservation in particular although any animal or extraordinary plant can attract my attention easily. Currently doing my B.Sc. (with Honors) on comparative habitat use and foraging ecology of Varanus salvator. In the future, I hope to delve deeper into habitat conservation work.

Siti Nor Baizurah Bt Abd Malik Chang

I am from Sabah, and recently obtained a B.Sc (Hons) degree in Zoology, when I studied the taxanomy of Aeluroscalabotes felinus. I currently study the effect of patch size on herpetofaunal communities living specifically in an interesting but harsh ecosystem, the peat swamps of central and western Sarawak. I hope to help improve conservation and management practices for forested peatlands through these studies.

Adi Shabrani Mohd. Ridzuan

My research tries to document the diversity of Bornean amphibian species and their reproductive modes in northern Sarawak. Reproductive mode is a combination of ovipositional and developmental factors, including oviposition site, ovum and clutch characteristics, rate and duration of development, stage and size of hatchling, and any type of parental care. Diversity in reproductive mode is thought to permit coexistence through reduction of competition during larval development. I am also studying structures of amphibian guilds and possible effects of forest fragmentation.

Mohamad Paisal bin Wahab

My research looks at the life history of the Bornean Horned Toad, Megophrys nasuta in the Baram and Rajang drainages of Sarawak. I am studying its diet, vocalization, movement, microhabitat and reproductive timing, in relation to habitat quality, in order to understand how it affects critical aspects of its life history.

Pui Yong Min

I come from Sarawak, the land of hornbills and headhunters. My research interests include natural history of amphibians and reptiles, their bioacoustics and the biogeography of highland herpetofaunas. I just completed my M.Sc. and am about to start my PhD on calling phenology and acoustic characteristics of an anuran assemblages from central Sarawak.

Office: +60 82 583801
Mobile: +60 148820603

Engkamat Lading

I am a Wildlife Officer with the Sarawak Forest Department. I am studying the long-term effect of the flood mitigation channel on the ecology of Crocodylus porosus, at the Kuching Wetlands National Park. I am also surveying major rivers in the State, to estimate crocodile populations.

Alumni

Ong Jia Jet

I am a Penangite, and worked on the ecology of Ansonia latidisca, the Bornean Rainbow Toad, on Gunung Penrissen, western Sarawak, a species I helped rediscover. It was among the World’s Top 10 Lost Frog in a list prepared by Conservation International in 2011. My study focussed on its life history and I hope my studies, that was supported by the Rufford Foundation, will help in its conservation.