KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s (UMS), Jacqueline Joseph, was recognised as the Best Participant in the “Department of Resource and Environment Economics (ESL) International Summer Course: Reducing Carbon Footprints from Individual to Global Actions” organised by Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) University, Indonesia, recently. 

The PhD student of Forestry at UMS’ Faculty of Science and Natural Resources beat 370 other participants from 70 international universities and received prizes in the form of money and certificate of participation.

“At first I just wanted to expand the network of cooperation with foreign researchers and participate proactively in assignments and partnerships with academicians from abroad.

“I feel overwhelmed and did not expect to be selected as the Best Participant apart from getting second place in the Learning Journal which was screened and selected by a panel from Indonesia and Australia,” said Joseph, here, Thursday.

She said the competition was held online using the Zoom application.

It is an international discussion platform involving academicians and students in global climate change mitigation and the implications of carbon emissions.

On what she feels about the success, the Tenom native woman said she was very happy to be able to make UMS famous internationally.

“I also hope UMS students do not miss the opportunity to participate in such programmes because it is one of the stepping stones for them to expand collaboration with academicians and students from abroad.

“Indirectly, it also dignifies the name of UMS in the eyes of the world through the involvement and contribution of the students themselves,” she said.

The competition in the form of a course from Nov 20 to Dec 5 involved participation from various countries including Australia, Russia, China, Brazil, Tanzania, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Nepal, Haiti, Indonesian and Myanmar.

Source: https://www.subscriber-dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?id=163070

(12 December 2020)

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah-led international research has helped shed light on the rare eagle rays, using mainly citizen science and social media.

According to the Sabah Shark and Ray Association (SSRI), this international study, led by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), saw the identification of a total of 46 eagle rays.

From the 53 reports of the rare species the team found online, the 46 identified included those in Palau, the Seychelles and South Africa, representing the first confirmed reports of the species in these countries, said SSRI.

It said that the study also found that many of the sighting occurrences were in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), highlighting the importance of these MPAs in shark and ray conservation.

SSRI said although there were no sightings of the ornate eagle ray documented on social media from Sabah, the species has historically been recorded in state fisheries.

Its current status in the state is unknown, although once occasionally landed in Sabah, no reports have been documented in the last 20 years, it said.

“The ornate eagle ray is a large and easily identifiable ray, and its distinct back pattern of stripes and reticulated spots make the species well suited for a citizen science-based study approach,” said Gonzalo Araujo, Associate Research Fellow at UMS.

“Citizen science, where the public contributes to data collection, is a powerful tool that can assist many projects”, he said, adding that people’s photos on social media platforms, such as Facebook, are proving incredibly useful for monitoring rare species, especially in remote places.

He said in Sabah, for example, citizen science is already helping scientists understand the enigmatic whale shark, providing evidence of how its movement to and from neighbouring areas.

Araujo said the most notably of such research was in late 2019 when a diver’s video of a whale shark at Pulau Sipadan off Semporna was used to confirm the first documented movement of a whale shark between Philippines and Malaysia, as the shark had previously been identified in south Cebu, Philippines.

“It is interesting that many of the reports of ornate eagle rays found on social media were within iconic Marine Protected Areas, such as Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Cagayancillo reef in the Philippines – just like the whale shark at Pulau Sipadan in 2019,” he said.

“The effectiveness of MPAs to conserve species like the ornate eagle ray, and other mobile species, is highly complex, yet it is encouraging that these species are present in these areas, and that citizen science can be a powerful tool to help monitor them,” he added.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/12/13/ums-led-research-reveals-more-info-on-rare-eagle-rays

(13 December 2020)

An ornate eagle ray, showing the distinct back pattern of stripes and reticulated spots. These beautiful, yet rare, rays can grow up to 240cm from wing tip to wing tip. (Credit: Jacinta Shackleton).

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has allocated more than RM1mil to make online studies easier for its underprivileged students. A total of RM1.25mil has been allocated for data plans and devices for B40 undergraduates at the university.

UMS vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap said 1,928 students would benefit from the data plans. “As for devices such as laptops, these are for a total of 714 eligible students from the B40 group, ” he said.

He said these students comprised 619 from Sabah, 37 from Sarawak and 58 from Peninsular Malaysia. Yap said these funds are from the UMS students' welfare trust fund. “We started giving students the data plan assistance in phases since Dec 8,” he said.

He said as for the devices, students will get them once the required procedures are met. Yap said these are part of UMS’ six welfare and assistance programmes to help students.

Earlier, the university had spent RM20,000 for food bank programmes as well. “Other initiatives taken to lessen the burden of students was by not collecting college accommodation rental fees for a certain period,” he said.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/12/11/ums-allocates-over-rm1mil-for-data-plans-devices-for-b40-undergrads

(11 December 2020)

KOTA KINABALU -- Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is offering drive-through COVID-19 screenings to the public.

UMS Pusat Rawatan Warga (PRW) director Dr Muhammad Syafiq Abdullah said the service is available daily at the PRW located near the UMS sports centre from 9.30 am to 12 pm and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.

“The screening will be made at the PRW lobby quickly, carefully and safely without them even having to get down from the car,” he said in a statement today.

According to Dr Syafiq, the rapid test method would cost a payment of RM95 while the rt-PCR screening would cost RM333.

“All payments can be made through online banking. Receipts will be issued online. This is to ensure that the entire process remains contact-free so as to reduce the risk of infection.

“The initiative is conducted by PRW, with the cooperation of Universiti Malaysia Hospital Sabah (HUMS), the UMS Medical and Health Science Faculty lab,” he said.

Source: https://www.bernama.com/en/region/news.php?id=1904959