A Study in Natural History: A Presentation by Students

POSTED ON BY Aw Jeanice

‘A Study in Natural History’ is a month-long temporary showcase prepared by museum lecturer Dr Ang Yuchen and his students from the NUS University Scholars Programme (USP).

The student presentation is free to visit from 1–31 July 2021, with 12 curated posters and artworks put up in the lobby of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM). Read on to find out more about the displays!

The student presentation ‘A Study in Natural History’ on display at LKCNHM.

Exhibition highlights

A puff of blush pink sewn onto a piece of paper, with thin long branches tied down with delicate strings—it looks like a pressed plant, but on a closer look, it is a flowering branch of the rain tree artistically recreated by marrying traditional plant pressing methods with needle embroidery.

Embroidery of a raintree flower by Venny Lewis.

Concluding the presentation is a black and white masterpiece depicting the folklores and mythologies in Singapore’s natural history, demanding your attention and careful scrutiny. These are just a few of the stunning artworks created by the young students who drew inspiration from their encounters with wildlife and their intimate relationships with nature, which they deepened over the semester. Take in their changing perspectives of the natural environment through the vivid colours, poetic literature and sweeping brushstrokes!

Work no. 001 (2021). Acrylic on canvas. Artwork by Ana Pom.

Beyond many of these posters lie additional digital resources developed by the students. You can choose your own adventure while exploring Lakeside Garden through a piece of interactive fiction, or learn how parfums can be extracted from plant material!

There are also biodiversity guides galore, created “in hopes that the field guides will encourage more people to go out there and explore, and experience nature with their own five senses,” said two of the students who published a birdwatching guide for beginners.

There are even paintings in a nature journaling book that look nothing outside the ordinary, except that the attractive palette came from natural dyes obtained entirely from plant and other natural materials. Be sure to explore their works using the QR codes on their posters!

An illustration of the dye extraction process by Samantha Rin.

A growing appreciation of nature

Over the past six months, the students of Dr Ang’s ‘Biodiversity and Natural History in Singapore’ module have heightened their awareness and understanding of the various realms of natural history knowledge.

“The past few weeks of observation has taught me to be more aware of the little intricacies in nature in my daily life, and how I can connect with nature,” quipped a student who studied the habitat and ecological interactions in the Yale-NUS Ecopond for the module’s final project.

Two other students also felt that the module helped to bridge the disconnect with nature that many experience. “Living and growing up in a densely populated urban cityscape like Singapore, we often lack any sort of prolonged exposure to the natural environment. In fact, we could lead our whole lives in the city oblivious to the complex interactions and processes taking place all around us.” The recognition of this detachment led them to wonder if things should start to change.

Aimed at starting an impassioned dialogue with the public through their project, the posters and digital resources embody their newfound respect and appreciation of nature. At the same time, they are also the culmination of the wealth of knowledge and skills they picked up from the module—from scientific documentation, species identification to science communication.

Some of the students behind the presentation, together with Dr Ang Yuchen (centre).

So come down to peruse the student presentation over the next few weeks! If you can’t drop by, visit our Facebook and Instagram channels for a series of features from the presentation from Monday to Friday!