FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
University of Malaya has received the recent news that Dr. Louisa Shobhini Ponnampalam, a research fellow of the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya under Prof Dr. Phang Siew Moi, has been awarded the 2014 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation. Under the fellowship, recipients will be provided with USD150,000 for a three-year project to address conservation challenges facing the ocean.
Louisa will be continuing with her research into dugongs, gathering scientific data of their habitat using visual, acoustic and underwater surveys, with the over-arching goal of making recommendations for a dugong protected area in the species’ critical habitats off the Johor east coast.
According to Louisa, “These herbivorous marine mammals and their seagrass habitats are threatened by human activities such as coastal development, commercial fishing, and a lack of provision for habitat protection”.
The project will involve collaborators from UM, MareCet (a local conservation NGO co-founded by Louisa herself), Japan and the USA, and also personnel of local government agencies (e.g. Dept Marine Parks, Johor National Parks Corp).
Dr. Joshua S. Reichert, executive vice president and head of environment initiatives for the Pew Charitable Trusts, in awarding the fellowship to Louisa, said that her study will shed light on how and where dugongs live in Peninsular Malaysia, and will encourage exchange of data among countries to better protect these increasing rare and extraordinary creatures.
To date, the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation has awarded 135 fellowships to individuals from 31 countries.
Congratulations to Dr. Louisa Ponnampalam for being one of five recipients for this prestigious award in 2014 and the first Malaysian to receive it.
For more information about Louisa’s fellowship and also the Pew Marine Fellows Program, log on to www.pewmarinefellows.org.
