Harvard Summer Program in Borneo, Malaysia

  Malaysia

Kota Kinabalu

Term: Summer 
Dates: June 7-July 18

Description: The island of Borneo holds a special place in Western cultural imagination as a wilderness of unexplored jungle and once-headhunting indigenous peoples. In todays reality, Borneo is less romantic but far more complex: a vast island (larger than Texas) of outstanding biological, geographical, and cultural diversity, split by international boundaries and exploited by multinational logging, mining, and oil-palm corporations. In its parks visitors can still encounter some of the highest local biodiversity on Earth, from orangutans, hornbills, and thousands of tree species to breathtakingly beautiful coral reefs. At the same time, Borneo offers an excellent case study of the challenges facing nature conservation in the tropics. Our five-week program in Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah) immerses the participants in the biology, conservation issues, and culture of this amazing island. A cornerstone philosophy of the program is that only by personally grappling with the morphological and ecological variation among species can one truly understand the meaning of biodiversity.

At the beginning of the program, we assemble in Kota Kinabalu, in the Malaysian state of Sabah, then head straight to Lambir National Park in Sarawak, where students wander in the magnificent lowland forests and start formulating biological questions that students attempt to answer over the coming weeks. Lambir is the site of one of the long-term 50-hectare forest dynamics plots of the joint Center for Tropical Forest ScienceArnold Arboretum program, and students study plant identification and complete an independent project. We also visit the giant Niah cave, an important human prehistoric site dating back 40,000 years.

Back in Kota Kinabalu we spend a week on Gaya Island, comparing and contrasting terrestrial diversity with marine coral and fish diversity, highlighting the similar mechanisms thought to promote each. We then climb through various vegetation zones to the summit of Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain between the Himalayas and the tropical glaciated peaks of New Guinea, and a diversity hotspot even within Borneo. In an applied section, we visit a sustainable logging operation and study forest rehabilitation strategies. At the last and most remote site, the Maliau Basin, we start with a three-day trek. We observe the wide range of vegetation typesfrom stunted, open woodland (kerangas) to 60-meter lowland dipterocarp forestand stay along the way in basic bush camps. Back at the research station outside the basin, students do a second independent project that culminates in a formal presentation in Kota Kinabalu on the final day.

Highlights:

BIOS S-165 Study Abroad in Borneo, Malaysia: The Biodiversity of Borneo

This course focuses on the evolutionary and ecological processes that lead to the amazingly high biodiversity on Borneo as well as the issues that seriously threaten that diversity today. Study involves a demanding mix of lectures, field projects, and personal exploration, with local and international experts as instructors. The course also offers a unique cross-cultural experience, as the 10 Summer School participants join a similar number of students and young scientists from Southeast Asian countries. The team moves among a number of sites, visiting the major forest, mountain, and marine environments in Borneo. At some sites students participate in group data collection, and at others they learn to conduct short independent research projects. A common thread throughout the course is statistical analysis using a software program called R. Students receive instruction in tropical forest ecology, plant systematics and biogeography, entomology, coral reef ecology, cultural anthropology, tropical conservation and management issues, and tropical medical issues and their environmental causes and consequences.

Prerequisites: students get the most from the program if they have taken one of the following courses (or equivalents): Foundations of Biological Diversity (OEB 10), Evolutionary Biology (OEB 53), Ecology (OEB 55). However, there are no official prerequisites, and students are invited to discuss their academic preparation with the program director.

Degree Level: Bachelors Degree (Undergraduate)

Cost in US$: $6,000

- tuition
- room and most meals
- course-related excursions
- course materials

In addition to the program fee, students are responsible for the following:

- a health insurance fee (approximately $165; waived if students have US insurance that provides coverage outside the United States)
- transportation to Miri and from Kota Kinabalu (suggested routing via Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian Airlines)
- basic hiking gear (backpack, boots, etc.) and snorkeling gear (mask, fins, and snorkel)
- A list of required equipment will be provided.

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• Essay
• Other
• Transcript
• Written Application

Harvard Summer School Study Abroad Programs's Mission Statement: The Harvard Summer School makes Harvards academic resourcesa distinguished faculty, well-equipped laboratories, fine museums, and a world-class university library available to men and women of many ages, backgrounds, and nationalities through an intensive summer session of liberal arts courses in Cambridge and overseas. Our international student body includes Harvard undergraduate and graduate students, visitors from other colleges and universities, highly qualified secondary school students, adult learners, and nonnative English speakers seeking to refine their language skills. Students take courses to challenge themselves academically, meet degree requirements, prepare for graduate school, gain college experience, advance their careers, and pursue personal enrichment. Students who study at Harvard Summer School may reside in a supportive residential environment, commute to campus, complete courses via distance education, or participate in one of the faculty-led programs based abroad. Many come to experience the extraordinary environment of Harvard College academics, resources, and residential life. Harvard Summer School serves the University community by providing faculty with teaching opportunities that allow them to experiment with new materials and teaching methods. Students from many Harvard schools take advantage of the breadth of summer course offerings to meet requirements for concentrations and degree programs, and to create more flexibility within their term-time academic program. Harvard graduate students from abroad can work on refining their English language skills, and Harvard College students take advantage of the summer session to expand their cultural, social, and intellectual horizons by studying abroad.