Short Course at Tuanan Research Station, Central Kalimantan

Faculty members from Rutgers (Drs. Vogel, Scott) and UNAS (Drs. Mitra-Setia, Utami-Atmoko, and Sugarjito) will run 14-day short courses during the summer. One course will focus on the Advanced Primate Behavior and Ecology (APBE) and the other on Applied Ecology and Ecosystem Management (AEEM).

Initially, ten students total from Rutgers and UNAS will be funded to participate in each course based on scholarship and an admission proposal. We expect that we will have different student participants for each course however students will have the option to take both courses. Women will be strongly encouraged to apply. Students from external universities may apply and provide their own funding.

UNAS faculty in collaboration with Dr. Carel van Schaik (University of Zurich) have had high demand for a tropical ecology short course run every other year at the Tuanan research station. During a course in 2005, Dr. Vogel participated as a postdoctoral fellow.

Although primarily Indonesian students participated, the course was given in English and Indonesian languages and students were highly successful. Dr. Vogel also ran a short course in 2007 with Dr. Utami-Atmoko for Indonesian and foreign graduate students focusing on ecological methodologies for nutritional studies in the field. While Tuanan has the capacity to run a short course, funds from USAID will increase the numbers of students who can participate in such courses and promote the long-term sustainability of our program by establishing these courses as international course in Indonesia (see Sustainability section).

Both courses will be two weeks in duration and will provide students with a scientific foundation of information and skills necessary for successfully completing graduate studies in these areas. Each course will require a brief, independent research project. The two courses we currently have planned are described below. We expect to increase the number of courses in the future to include topics such as Tropical Forest Ecology, Quantitative Techniques in Ecology, Foodweb Ecology and Biodiversity, and Applied Primate Conservation.