In 2009 Samoa Asigau and Junior Novera were awarded scholarships to pursue Masters degrees overseas
Ms. Samoa Asigau, a PNGIBR Honours student, was offered two prestigious scholarships– a Fulbright Scholarship and a United States South Pacific Scholarship (USSP) offered by the East-West Centre in Hawaii. She chose the USSP scholarship and left for her studies in Tropical Biology at the University of Missouri in August 2009. Congratulations Samoa!
Mr. Junior Novera, a PNGIBR Honors student, was awarded a UK Chevening Scholarship from the British High Commission funded
See Edna Sivarai Newsletter to learn more.
See Swire News Eco-Warrior article to learn more.
Muse Opiang’s Study of Long-Beaked Echidnas Featured
In June 2009 Muse Opiang’s study of Long-Beaked Echidnas in the wild was featured as the cover article of the Journal of Mammalogy and in a New York Times article.
See Muse’s Journal of Mammalogy article: Home Ranges, Movement, and Den Use in Long-Beaked Echidnas, Zaglossus bartoni, from Papua New Guinea.
And check out the following links for the resulting publicity:
- Read NY Times aritlce: Brainy Echidna Proves Looks Aren’t Everything
- Discovery.com: First Study of Elusive Long-Beaked Echidna
BBC Biodiversity Study
In early 2009, Muse Opiang of PNGIBR aided the BBC in a biodiversity survey that discovered species new to science including a giant rat!
The BBC documentary made from this adventure is entitled “Lost Land of the Volcano” and aired in September 2009. For more information see these links:
- National Geographic News: Giant Rat, Silky Cuscus Found
- BBC Earth Explorers: Revealing New Guniea’s Forest Secrets
- BBC Earth News: Giant Rat Found in Lost Volcano