Over three years, 11 students completed a rigorous six-week ecological field sampling program in the Bornean Highlands of East Malaysia. Paired with Malaysian student counterparts in Tropical Biology and under the direction of a US wildlife biologist and a Malaysian faculty mentor, students completed sampling of bats, ants and soils at four agricultural sites at various levels of disturbance; two currently protected areas at very different levels of recovery; and multiple sites in the nearby World Heritage National Park. 

Ten students were drawn from STEM minorities; nine were undergraduates; and two were MS level graduate students.  Nine are now in competitive graduate programs or have finished a MS degree - eight in STEM disciplines and one in a sustainability science policy program.  One student delaying graduate school serves as the science education director at a low-income community youth intervention education center. Three students were awarded fellowships under NSF's prestigious GRFP.  

Agricultural land in the cloud forest is experiencing land use transition through government subsidized hillside clearing to plant low valued rubber, palm oil, bananas, and pineapples.  Higher valued products from native species of peppers and tropical fruits are being examined to improve incomes that might partially restore ecological functions and reduce environmental damage, such as polluting local rivers.  The baseline study (bats, ants and soils) allows some pre-post comparisons of ecological change over time.  Findings help to create a preliminary study for more detailed on-going examination. 

The first two years of field study operated on the agricultural sites and in areas brought under direct protection 35 to 50 years ago. All three field areas (bats, ants, and soils) were sampled in agricultural areas located in the Tertiary Area, or primarily human use area, of the UNESCO Designated Man and Biosphere Region. The final year performed comparison sampling of bats and ants in the much more protected Secondary and Primary Man and Biosphere Areas.             

As expected, bat diversity changed little across agricultural sites, yet was much lower than bat diversity in the Primary and Secondary Man and Biosphere Regions of the National Park.  Ants followed a peculiar pattern with one dominant species under each tree, mirroring preliminary results on soil health by another research team from Singapore in protected forests 120 miles away. 

Soils biological diversity (fungi and bacteria) showed a clear drop at more recent clearings, leveling off with the age of growth since the last clearing. Diversity even dropped slightly for sites more than 80-90 years since last clearing.  With small sampling numbers, conclusions are difficult to reach. Yet soil results are suggestive of forest recovery processes in non-tropical northern rain forests whereby soil fungal community diversity rapidly increases during the stress following clearing, and then settles much later into a robust, resilient network with fewer fungal species that support forest trees and ground cover.  This preliminary work is essentially exploratory for the purpose to support subsequent study of the greater soil ecological region. That region extends from soil inorganics to soil organics through surface leaf litter and understory plants.  

Given the sophistication of soil sampling and the rigors of bat and ant sampling, the undergraduate students in this study performed well and successfully established more concrete hypotheses for much needed on-going study that can support more ecology and environment friendly farming. 

The findings by these early career students propelled them into  careers as scientists. It also set the stage for future study of interest to local economic development officers, agricultural officers, ecologists, and environmental scientists. A final report to the local District Officer (more powerful than a County Commissioner), suggests the possibility of launching an on-gpoing agricultural and ecological research effort that would have been unaffordable.

In follow up interviews, project students demonstrated increased awareness of cultural diversity within the global scientific community and the complexities of ecological sustainability efforts in communities of poorer rural landowners operating in a complex political-economic system. Students demonstrated awareness of the different research priorities of their Malaysian counterparts and their different career prospects.

Students reported greater empathy and a much more grounded perspective on global problems.  Students commented on the dual urgency of ecological pressures (land degradation and climate change) and economic protections for the low-income persons who are the de facto stewards of some of the most sensitive ecosystems on the planet. Reporting greater personal and professional maturity, students reported greater focus, greater confidence and greater success in their endeavors as professional scientists.

The primary result of this study to propell bourgeoning scientists from STEM minorities into higher educational pursuits is a clear sucess. The secondary purposes for students to appreciate the conduct of science in a different cultural setting, the struggles of human-nature interactions across the globe and to complete a baseline of research for on-going study were also very successful.    

Last Modified: 08/25/2021
Modified by: Michael C Farmer