Natural History Museum
The ‘LKCNHM Talk Shop’ (previously ‘Thursday Talk Shop’) is a web-talk series organised by the Outreach and Education Unit (OEU). These online sessions saw our Education Officers chat with special guest speakers about their work experiences in the field of biodiversity. They shared about LKCNHM’s research and education efforts and had special guest appearances from other Museum staff as well.
The response to these sessions was overwhelming and we had a total of over 600 participants tuning in for the first season held in May 2020. We reached out to young children, school students, working adults, parents and professors and received positive feedback from them about this new online educational experience from the Museum. At LKCNHM, we hope to engage and inspire students and the public through biodiversity education, and we are glad that these virtual programmes have allowed us to do that.
The recordings and resources from the sessions of the first five seasons are now available on our website!
Learn about insects and why they are misunderstood. In session 1 of the ‘Thursday Talk Shop’ series, Education Officers spoke with insect-lover Mr Foo Maosheng, curator of cryogenic collections at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM). We chatted about how insects are being used to fight food waste (25:56), LKCNHM’s three-week field expedition as part of the RIMBA-Sarawak collaborative project between the Museum (NUS) and Sarawak (29:30) and shared some research findings from LKCNHM entomologists (32:50).
Learn why research collaborations are important and how education is used to effectively communicate scientific research to the public. In session 2 of the ‘Thursday Talk Shop’ series, Education Officers spoke with Dr Theresa Su, Education Manager at the St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory (SJINML). Mr Dzaki Safaruan, Specialist Associate at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM), made a guest appearance (8:05) and shared his experience on the South Java Deep-sea Biodiversity Expedition (SJADES) 2018. We also chatted about the Pacific Ocean Deep Sea Expedition 2020 (18:16), the Singapore Marine Fishes Expedition 2019 (21:48) and some of the education collaborations between LKCNHM and SJINML (27:53).
Learn about marine pollution and its impact on biodiversity. In session 3 of the ‘Thursday Talk Shop Series’, we crossed borders! Education Officers spoke with Mohammad Reza Cordova, a Researcher in the Research Centre for Oceanography, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) about his work as a marine waste Researcher. Mr Marcus Chua, Museum Officer and curator of Mammal and Bird Collections at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM), made a guest appearance (13:55) and shared his experience dissecting the sperm whale that was discovered off Jurong Island on 10 July 2015. He alsotold us about the marine trash found inside the stomach of this marine mammal.
In this session, we talked about how humans have been shaping Singapore’s biodiversity—past, present and future. Learn more about the influences we had and continue to have on Singapore’s nature spaces, as well as the conservation efforts that came into play later in our natural history, including some of the biodiversity research carried out by our Museum staff. ACRES co-CEO Ms Anbarasi Boopal also joined us to chat about instances of human-wildlife interactions in Singapore (51:13).
Our perceptions of wildlife around us also affect our relationship with it. In this session, we dove into several folktales that feature animals in Singapore, which teach us how people used to view animals such as the saltwater crocodiles (19:30)—as mysteries, threats or guardians. We also discussed common misconceptions surrounding certain organisms in both the past and the present, with a special segment related to one of our favourite pastimes—eating (28:10)!
In the Pokémon game, one of the in-game goals is to fill up the Pokédex. It first started when the creator Satoshi Tajiri, who enjoyed collecting insects in his younger days, wanted to create a game for kids to experience the marvels of collecting different animals.
In this session, our entomologist and curator Foo Maosheng shared how his fascination with bugs started, and grew with the Pokémon game. As he played on, he began to notice the many similarities between the game and his bug-related research, particularly the design inspirations that Pokémon creators drew from real-life plants and animals!
So Maosheng went on a journey to identify the parallels between insects and some of the bug-type Pokémon, and shared how he views his current work at the Museum as an extension of the Pokémon game—understanding, documenting and appreciating the variety of insect species from all around Southeast Asia. We were also joined by guest speaker and avid Pokémon player, Sean Yap, who is studying the evolution of dung beetles in Singapore.
Disclaimer: Pokémon and Pokédex are owned by The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo of America Inc.
Ah, love—the drug that drives hapless men and women to comical endeavours and extreme follies. Are humans the only species to be driven mad by Cupid? In his talk on 26 August 2021, our curator of entomology Dr Ang Yuchen shared about the world of insects (flies, in particular) to showcase that the same madness abounds!
Through his research—primarily focused on the study of Diptera (Greek for two-winged; commonly known as true flies)—Dr Ang investigates the myriad of morphological and behavioural adaptations for courtship and mating. From ridiculous-looking eyestalks to huge genitalia; from fake Valentine gifts to courtship moves that put tango dancers to shame, he explored how—as Shakespeare puts it— “Cupid is a knavish lad, thus to make females [and males too] mad!”
Disclaimer: Please note this session contains discussion of mature topics
Ever wondered what it’s like to be a field biologist; what are the challenges involved and what type of research is done? Our curator of herpetology Dr Chan Kin Onn spills it all as he shares his extensive experience trekking through humid jungles and wading knee-deep through coursing rivers looking for amphibians and reptiles. His 15 years of fieldwork has taken him across Southeast Asia and America and has led to the discovery of more than 50 new species of some poorly understood creatures!
Sparked by his interest in fishes since youth, our ichthyologist (one who studies fishes) Dr Tan Heok Hui realised his career pathway when he entered the National University of Singapore. From then on, he never looked back, pouring his years into studying the taxonomy, ecology and biogeography of Southeast Asian freshwater fishes and describing over 100 new species.
In this session, he shared about two of his recent research papers published in September 2021. The first describes the very first cave dwelling cyprinid fish from Mindanao; quite a sensational discovery for Philippines freshwater aquatic biodiversity, as he explains with much enthusiasm.
You couldn’t help but be sucked into his passion as he went on to talk about his favourite subject: the Borneo sucker loaches. The other paper ties up a loose end from his doctoral project—it was only 15 years later, with sufficient, fresh material, that he could finally put out descriptions of a new genus and two new species, closing a chapter on his research journey!
What goes on behind closed doors in a Natural History Museum? Our specialist associate Dzaki Safaruan demystified the relatively unknown part of Museum work as he took you through his day-to-day activities behind the scenes at our Museum!
Growing up from a little boy collecting leaves, sticks and stones at neighbourhood playgrounds, there were two things he was passionate about: wildlife and art. Today, he goes on expeditions, preserves specimens, and maintains one of the largest crustacean collections in Southeast Asia. Occasionally, he finds opportunities to meld art into his work, which sometimes manifests in the form of sketches and doodles from his adventures exploring remote forests around Southeast Asia as part of an expedition team.
Mention “stingray”, and most people in Singapore would immediately think of the stingingly fragrant and intensely flavourful hawker dish known as sambal stingray.
A slab of barbecued ray meat on a charred banana leaf, slathered with a layer of rich sambal, adorned with onion slices and a side of cincalok—the iconic flavours of sambal stingray is defined by its condiments. But what do we know about the stingray itself?
As word on the street goes, sambal stingray first appeared in our region during the early 1980s. However, this isn’t the earliest presence of stingrays on our plates or in other cultural spheres. In this session, oral historian Ms Kathy Poh discussed some culinary and cultural histories of the stingray in Singapore. Through this, she hoped to arrive at some new cultural understandings of rays in a Singaporean context.
About the Speaker:
Kathy is a Researcher whose interests lie at the intersections of visual culture and natural history. She graduated from Yale-NUS College in 2020 with a specialization in Art History and is currently an oral historian at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.
From wild to farmed, terubok to tilapia; join Professor Anthony D. Medrano in this session of Thursday Talk Shop as he explored the history of Singapore through our food fishes. As we chronicled the history behind the fishes that fed our hungry city, we uncovered a wide-ranging and interconnected tale of species, cultures, and ecologies.
About the Speaker:
Anthony D. Medrano is the Presidential Young Professor of Environmental Studies at Yale-NUS College; he teaches modules that explore the cultural, economic, and ecological history of Singapore and Southeast Asia. He also holds appointments in NUS’s Department of History, the Asia Research Institute, and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Mr Medrano is the principal investigator of the SSRTG-funded project “Linking the Digital Humanities to Biodiversity History in Singapore and Southeast Asia“. He is completing his first book with Yale University Press titled The Edible Ocean: Science, Industry, and the Rise of Urban Southeast Asia.
Meet divers turned conservationists—Thomas Knudsen and Kathlyn Tan—the couple behind Rumah Foundation’s ocean protection portfolio. In addition to impact investments and non-profit work, the co-founders of not-for-profit ‘Coastal Natives’ hope to contribute towards inspiring new ocean lovers and conservationists. If you’re interested in how to get started in conservation or learning about strategies for impact, this session of Thursday Talk Shop is for you! Participants enjoyed a casual conversation with the duo and uncovered how a passion for the ocean can turn into a lifelong commitment.
About the Speakers:
Kathlyn and Thomas met at sea and share a passion for ocean protection and business sustainability. A certified divemaster and freediving athlete, Kathlyn is also a sustainability practitioner in the built environment sector. Thomas, on the other hand, is a supply chain expert and certified diving instructor with more than two thousand dives under his belt. Together, as Directors of Rumah Foundation, they work to contribute to a clean and vibrant ocean through embracing a total portfolio approach.
Join us as we dive into an enchanting world where fungi rule with endless possibilities in this talk designed for everyone. Our speaker, Dr Amy Choong, will unveil the mysteries of these incredible organisms—from what defines them, to the dazzling array of forms they take. Discover how fungi are secret champions of carbon capture, humble healers in the realm of medicine, and pioneers of biotechnology!
About the speaker:
Dr Amy Choong is a senior lecturer at the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore. She teaches fungal biology, botany, horticulture and the natural heritage of Singapore. She is also the coordinator of the Minor in Botany. Fungi have been ignored for decades so much so that fewer and fewer mycologists (scientists who study fungi) are around. The urgency to create awareness of this kingdom and train new generations of mycologists and educators is paramount.
Date: 28 September 2023 (Thu)
Time: 8–8:45 PM (SGT) via Zoom
For centuries, humankind has been on a wild quest to estimate the number of living species on Earth. The veil of uncertainty shrouding this endeavour has noticeably lifted in recent decades, thanks to more extensive explorations and species discovery work. While this heralds exciting progress, we’re still far from uncovering and describing all of biodiversity, particularly within the depths of our oceans. Dive deep into the abyss with our Deputy Head, Associate Professor Huang Danwei, to hunt for missing puzzle pieces of marine biodiversity. Come explore with us new approaches to turbocharge our species discovery game in the oceans!
About the speaker:
Huang Danwei is the Deputy Head of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, an Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, and a research affiliate at the Tropical Marine Science Institute and Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, National University of Singapore. With an unhealthy dose of obsession for corals and reefs, his research team at the Reef Ecology Lab studies the ecology, evolution and conservation of coral reefs in Southeast Asia.
Date: 12 October 2023 (Thu)
Time: 8–8:45 PM (SGT) via Zoom
Nestled snuggly beneath the brains of fish are tiny bone-like structures known as otoliths, or ear-stones. All fish add layers into their otoliths daily, forming alternating opaque and translucent growth rings—similar to tree rings! By analysing these structures, one can obtain valuable information about the fish’s age, growth history and movement patterns.
In our upcoming talk, join us as we speak to Mr Clement Ng, PhD student at the Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, on how fish otoliths hold the secrets to understanding the ecology of Singapore’s fishes and developing tools to better manage our food supply.
About the speaker:
Clement Ng is a PhD Student at the Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University. His research focuses on understanding the status and future of tropical marine fish populations from Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
Date: 1 November 2023 (Wed)
Time: 8–8:45 PM (SGT) via Zoom
On 5 September 2020, we celebrated our fifth anniversary (since our official opening on 18 April 2015) virtually with a line-up of web-talks by our Research and Education staff.
For more information on LKCNHM5 e-Celebrations event highlights, read our post here, or watch all the videos from the event here.
By Dr Gwynne Lim, Research Fellow
We are surrounded by daisies of the family Asteraceae in our everyday lives, from plucky weeds that run rampant, to delicious ingredients in our dishes, to useful species that enrich our lives with their beauty and functionality. Not only are they beautiful as ornamental houseplants, but they can also be edible and useful in the medicinal and agricultural industries.
This web-talk covered the key characteristic that unites all daisies, and a demonstration of a home dissection of some common roadside daisies participants might have seen, especially during the circuit breaker period. You can create your own home flower observation and dissection set-up with just household items, and even an affordable portable microscope.
By Dr Wan Faridah Akmal Jusoh, Research Fellow
Singapore is home to more than 10 species of fireflies, yet the most common response to whether these enigmatic critters can be found in our little island is “really meh?” In this web-talk, nine commonly-asked questions about fireflies were answered, and five cool things you probably did not know about fireflies in Singapore were revealed.
Read also Dr Wan’s article here on our website about how her passion for fireflies led her to Leiden, the Netherlands, where she trawled through the vast collections of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in search of firefly specimens from Southeast Asia.
By Mr Foo Maosheng, entomologist and Curator of Tissues in Cryogenic Collection.
Ever wondered what kind of mini-beasts you could be sharing your homes, neighbouring parks, nature walkways, and even community gardens with? Get to know the beautiful, the elusive, the helpful and even the “uninvited guests” around us. With a heart full of wonder, a pair of keen eyes and patient close observation, you can uncover an entire bustling world of insects!
Thereafter, hop over to our Biodiversity of Singapore (BOS) website to identify the insects you have seen.
By the Outreach and Education Unit (OEU)
Walk down memory lane as we reminisce about our Museum’s history and achievements. Over the past five eventful years, we have advanced our collective knowledge about the biodiversity of Southeast Asia through expeditions and research. We have also established lasting relationships with partner institutes that bore many fruits; collaborations that saw us venture into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean, journey through 200 years of natural history connections with French naturalists, and more!
Meanwhile, our staff developed educational programmes and modules for visitors and NUS students, all while expanding our collections and bringing new exhibitions to our gallery . Want to revisit the highlights of our past exhibitions? You can now indulge yourself in tales of a giant crocodile in Air Tenang, the curious phenomenon of crabs lighting the entire Christmas Island RED once every year, and the mythological creatures coming Out of the Water on our website here!
Jointly organised by the Embassy of Colombia in Singapore, the webinar ‘A Window to Colombia: The Humpback Whales’ was hosted live on Zoom on 3 November 2020.
Known for their elaborate songs that can travel across vast distances, humpback whales can be found in every ocean of the world. Sharing more about these magnificent creatures was keynote speaker and recognized science writer and journalist, Ms Angela Posada-Swafford, who once listened to the heartbeats of humpback whales from within a navy submarine!
Another cosmopolitan whale species is the sperm whale. Our mammalogist, Mr Marcus Chua, spoke about his unique experience conducting post-mortem studies on a sperm whale carcass found off Singapore’s Jurong Island in July 2015, which is now displayed in the Museum gallery.
The event was also webcasted simultaneously from the ARTitude Galería, with the Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia His Excellency Manuel Hernando Solano Sossa, Head of LKCNHM Professor Peter Ng and renowned architect-planner Dr Liu Thai-Ker. The webinar was hosted by Ms Diana Pimentel from the Embassy, and Associate Professor Darren Yeo Chong Jinn, Deputy Head of LKCNHM.
For more information on the event, click here.
In this webinar, our research visitor, Yi-Kai Tea, dove into the lesser known mesophotic coral reefs, shared new findings about the fishy business there and the diversity of flamboyant fairy wrasses.
The talk explores coral reefs, new species discoveries, hybridization in the marine angelfishes, and culminated in a case study on the systematics of the fairy wrasses (genus Cirrhilabrus), arguably one of the most successful of the extant wrasse lineages (Teleostei: Labridae). We used a phylogenomic approach to uncover the evolutionary history and patterns of temporal and spatial diversification of the fairy wrasses. Our relaxed-clock dating analysis indicated that the major divergences within the genus occurred around the Miocene–Pliocene boundary, and our biogeographic reconstruction suggested that the fairy wrasses emerged within the Coral Triangle, with episodic fluctuations of sea levels during glacial cycles coinciding with shallow divergence events, but providing few opportunities for more widespread dispersal. This study provided insight into the wider application of systematics in understanding key processes that have shaped the evolutionary trajectory of contemporary coral reef taxa.
About the Speaker
Yi-Kai Tea is a final year systematic ichthyology PhD student currently based at the University of Sydney. He is also a research affiliate at the Australian Museum Research Institute. His research primarily focuses on the systematics and evolution of labrid fishes (the wrasses). He has described close to two dozen new species of fishes, with several of his research outputs covered by high profile media outlets like the New York Times and Forbes.
Photo credits: Images of the marine angelfish and the fairy wrasses by Yi-Kai Tea.
The Singapore Birds Project (SBP) is a community and a data-driven collective that aims to boost interest in bird watching and conservation both in Singapore and regionally. The project administers the Singapore Birds Database, an open-source repository of rare bird sightings with primary documentation mostly available for the public to peruse. In this webinar, we invited Keita Sin and Movin Nyanasengeran (members of SBP), who introduced some of the activities and goals of the project and how one can participate. They also discussed the novelty and relevance of the Singapore Birds Database to better understand the bird population of Singapore and how it has changed over time.
About the Speakers:
Keita Sin has been chasing feathered animals since 2014. He presently works as a Research Assistant in the Avian Evolution Lab in NUS exploring evolutionary questions. He hopes to pique people’s interest in birds and nature through the Singapore Birds Project.
Movin Nyanasengeran is a PhD candidate in the Avian Evolution Lab in NUS where he studies how biogeography influences regional bird diversity. Having chased birds for almost a decade, he has a passion for regional conservation. He hopes to meet more people while in the field and help introduce them to the joys of birdwatching.
Living in a city can often make one feel disconnected from the natural world. In Singapore where natural environments are shrinking, so is our understanding of the creatures that live in them—especially small and elusive ones like insects! In this webinar, we invited Dr Francis Seow-Choen, honorary research affiliate of LKCNHM, a specialist colorectal surgeon by day and a passionate entomologist by night. Drawing on his passion and interest in stick and leaf insects, Dr Seow-Choen shared his experience merging both work and his hobbies with nature, and in developing expertise in human medicine and entomology. As you enter Dr Seow-Choen’s world of critters and adventure, we hope that you too will come to be fascinated by these underappreciated creatures!
About the Speaker:
Dr Francis Seow-Choen is a specialist colorectal surgeon in private practice, who was previously Head of Colorectal Surgery in Singapore General Hospital, Head of Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Centre amongst many other appointments. He was awarded the Excellence for Singapore Award in 2000 for his contributions to international colorectal surgery. He reared stick insects in his childhood but began serious study of these insects only after graduating as a doctor. To date, Dr Seow-Choen has published 10 books on stick insects with many new species named by him.
