Spiders in Borneo – Thank You Sarawak
In our last few days in Borneo, Edy and I gave a public lecture at the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre, a research institute that specializes on bioprospecting potential pharmaceuticals from forest plants and other organisms, using both traditional knowledge and high-tech testing methods. It’s an impressive facility from a scientific perspective. I was so pleased to […]
Spiders in Borneo – Replaying the Tape of Life
Our lives at Lambir were more or less as at Mulu — breakfast by 8 and in the field by 9. Hike anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Record latitude/longitude and other data. Sample intensely for 40 minutes, focusing on either tree trunks, foliage, or the ground. Record more data, and repeat for […]
Spiders in Borneo – More Hispo at Lambir
One big piece of news from Lambir is that we found more Hispo. I previously posted, with great excitement, the news that Edy had found a Hispo female in Mulu. I’m pretty certain it represents a species new to science, but even more exciting, it is the first adult hisponine anyone has found east of […]
Spiders in Borneo – Entangled and Pierced
You’re walking through a Borneo rainforest, keeping your eyes focused on shrubs and tree trunks that might be good opportunities for spider hunting, and suddenly your forward progress is halted. Three possible explanations: (1) You’re in one of those nightmares where you keep trying to get somewhere but mysteriously can’t move. (2) You’ve become entangled […]
Plastic-Eating Fungi Found in the Amazon May Solve World’s Waste Problem
A group of students and professors from Yale University have found a fungi in the Amazon rainforest that can degrade and utilize the common plastic polyurethane (PUR). As part of the university’s Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory educational program, designed to engage undergraduate students in discovery-based research, the group searched for plants and cultured the micro-organisms […]
Seabirds Study Shows Plastic Pollution at Surprising Levels Off Pacific Northwest Coast
Plastic pollution off the northwest coast of North America is reaching the level of the notoriously polluted North Sea, according to a new study led by a researcher at UBC. The study, published online in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, examined stomach contents of beached northern fulmars on the coasts of BC, Canada and the […]
Federal Government not doing what majority of Canadians want when it comes to species at risk
A recent Ispos Reid poll found that 62% of Canadians think the federal Government is not doing enough to protect species at risk. One way that the government could do more was highlighted in a recent Op-ed in the Globe and Mail, co-authored by Sally Otto and Jeannette Whitton from UBC’s Biodiversity Research Centre, along […]
Spiders in Borneo – The Spiders Who Wouldn’t Be
With the field work done, our attention turns to handling all of the specimens. We have barely had time to glance at most of them. My curiosity to peruse them under a microscope is strong, as I want to figure out what we got, but that will have to wait until after we get home […]