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Harvard Summer Program in Borneo

This page contains content from the Summer School 2009. For current information, visit the Harvard Summer School website at www.summer.harvard.edu.

Information on the programs being offered summer 2010 will be available online in early September.

An exploration of tropical biodiversity in the Malay archipelago

Featuring a joint course with the Center for Tropical Forest Science–Arnold Arboretum Asia program


Faculty: Campbell Webb, Chuck Davis, Stuart Davies, and additional faculty from Harvard
(8 credits: UN, GR) Limited enrollment

Program dates: June 6–July 23
Application deadline: February 27
Cost: $6,000

The island of Borneo holds a special place in Western cultural imagination as a wilderness of unexplored jungle and once-headhunting indigenous peoples. In today’s 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 Science–Arnold 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 types—from stunted, open woodland (kerangas) to 60-meter lowland dipterocarp forest—and 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.

Course of study

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.

Course credit

For Harvard College students, this program counts as one full-year course (8 credits) of degree credit.

Transfer credit. Harvard Summer School courses and credits are accepted toward degrees at most colleges and universities. Since degree requirements vary among schools, students are advised to obtain transfer credit approval from their home institutions before registering for Harvard Summer School courses.

Faculty

Campbell Webb, Program Director; Senior Research Scientist, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. Webb has been studying the evolution and maintenance of plant biodiversity in Borneo and Southeast Asia for 18 years. Besides being an experienced field biologist, he has developed theory and software tools for the integration of phylogenetic information into community ecology.

Chuck Davis, Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Stuart Davies, Director of Asian Programs, Harvard University Arnold Arboretum

Application

Students must be at least 18 years old to apply. The application materials, outlined below, are due February 27:

Applications should be addressed as follows:

Matilda West
Study Abroad Coordinator
Harvard Summer School
51 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

Students will be notified of admission decisions by the end of March.

Cost

The cost of the program is $6,000, plus a nonrefundable $50 application fee; this covers the following:

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

A list of required equipment will be provided. Program directors will advise students of likely additional expenses.

Payment deadlines

Harvard Summer School online services allows accepted students to make payments or deposits with a valid credit card. Students can also mail their payment, along with a completed Study Abroad Payment Form (available in Forms), to:
Student Financial Services
Harvard Summer School
51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

For those admitted to the program, a nonrefundable deposit of $600 must be received by April 15 to secure a place in the program. Payment in full is due by May 15. A $100 late fee will be charged for payments received after this date.

Funding

Harvard College students are eligible for funding through the Harvard College Office of International Programs (OIP), as well as a variety of centers around campus.  All Harvard Summer School study abroad programs qualify for summer funding. Programs of eight weeks or longer in duration (including extensions of Harvard Summer School Programs approved by faculty members) qualify for Rockefeller International Experience Grants; programs of shorter duration qualify for other summer grants.

Students may consult the Funding Sources Database for more information on all sources of funding. Please note that the funding application deadline for summer grants and Rockefeller International Experience Grants is February 27.

To apply for any study abroad funding, students need to provide information about the program’s budget, submit an application through the Common Application for Research and Travel (CARAT), as well as supplementary documents to the relevant center, if necessary. Additional information on the funding application process is available through CARAT.

Also see the Harvard College Financial Aid Office summer school page for information about assistance.

Other Harvard students may be eligible for financial assistance through their Harvard financial aid offices. Students enrolled at other institutions should consult their respective financial aid offices.

Accommodations

In Kota Kinabalu students share rooms in a comfortable, clean hotel. At field sites, accommodations are more basic (e.g., bunkhouses) but, again, clean and safe. We camp in tents for a few days on Gaya Island and Maliau Basin. Students should bring personal mosquito nets.

Physical activity

This program immerses students in tropical biology in the field, thus a reasonable level of fitness is advisable. Several long hikes are planned (Niah, Gunung Kinabalu, and Maliau Basin), but alternative activities can be found if necessary. Participation in marine snorkeling activities requires documentation that the student passed the Harvard swimming test or the equivalent. Prior snorkeling experience is not required.

Additional information

See the Biodiversity of Borneo website or contact Campbell Webb, cwebb@oeb.harvard.edu, phone +62-813-991-77663.

Students with disabilities should contact the disability services coordinator as soon as possible: (617) 495-0977, (617) 495-9419 (TTY), or disabilities@dcemail.harvard.edu. Request-for-accommodation forms and supporting diagnostic documentation must be submitted by April 15. See the Disability Services page for more information about disability services, including request forms and guidelines for documentation.

Students applying for admission to Harvard’s study abroad programs should understand that although the University provides reasonable assistance and support to facilitate the participation of qualified students in its programs (including students with disabilities and health impairments), some of our programs are located in parts of the world where accommodations may not be readily available. Students are encouraged to be forthcoming with the disability services coordinator about any specific needs and functional limitations so that the Summer School can collaborate with those students in a way that fosters their safe participation and allows them to fully appreciate any barriers that they may face, depending on the location and rigors of the particular program.

Harvard Summer School is aware of the risks associated with international travel. Should the US Department of State issue a travel warning for any of the countries in which a study abroad program is planned, the program in that country may be canceled.

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