KUCHING: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) Faculty of Resource Science and Technology is hosting the third International Southeast Asian Bat Conference (Seabco 2015) from now until Aug 17 at Grand Margherita Hotel here.
The conference will see the participation of more than 100 students and researchers from 24 countries including Southeast Asia (nine countries except Laos), USA, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Georgia, Hungary, China, India, Jeoun, Taiwan, Australia and South Africa.
Many distinguished experts in their respective fields will also attend the conference, including South East Asia Bat Conservation Research Unit (Seabcru) director, USA associate professor Dr Tigga Kingston from Texas Tech University,
The plenary speakers of this conference are Centre for Kenyir Ecosystems Research, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu director Professor Dato’ Dr Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah, 2013 Merdeka Award recipient Dr Lim Boo Liat and Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia programme director Dr Melvin Gumal.
The conference aims to enhance regional collaboration between researchers to ensure environmental sustainability of natural resources for future generations.
The first Seabco was held in Phuket, Thailand in 2007 and the second took place in Bogor, Indonesia in 2011.
This year’s conference is supported by Seabcru, National Science Foundation, USA, Texas Tech University, USA and Sarawak Convention Bureau.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the conference, Unimas vice chancellor Prof Dato’ Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi said Unimas’ mission was to explore the potential of natural resources of Sarawak through teaching and research opportunities.
He said Borneo, the third largest island in the world, is one of the twelve mega centres of biodiversity and has an ideal climate to contain organisms that include more than 90 species of bats.
He added that since starting its Zoology programme in the 1990s from a small lab with minimal laboratory equipment, Unimas has now established both dry and wet museums on campus to allow researchers to store their specimens.
Unimas has also set up a molecular laboratory to examine bats at the molecular level. Both these settings have allowed researchers to learn more about bats from an ecological and genetic aspect, said Kadim.