Plants & Animals

News

Starch
19 Mar 2024
The 12th Starch Value Chain ASIA conference was held in Vientiane, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, from February 27 to 29, 2024. The conference encompassed four key themes: Asia’s starch markets, industrial and food-grade tapioca starch in Laos with expansion plans, sustainable climate-smart agri-technology for rice and cassava cultivation, and challenges for future growth in Asia's biogas-to-energy sector.
15 Mar 2024
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are what happens in our brains when we interact with dogs, our brain and eye activity when we focus on something, and how many children is the ‘ideal’ amount.
Little auks flying over the colony (Siorapaluk, Greenland, 2022; Photo: Monica Ogawa).
15 Mar 2024
Acoustic recordings of a colony of little auks reveal their nocturnal activities and offer valuable monitoring means for avian biology in the Arctic.
08 Mar 2024
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are the mechanisms behind regrowing limbs and middle-age weight gain, and a new wound dressing combining mussels and silkworms.
International Women's Day 2024 Poster
07 Mar 2024
In celebration of International Women's Day, we are putting the spotlight on women experts from various fields who are open to speaking with international media about their research and advocacies.
25 Feb 2024
Fibre-reinforced composites, prone to internal damage, benefit from fibre hybridisation. Using ductile fibre glass mesh (FGM) in ramie/FGM composites, this study shows improved damage resistance, load-bearing, and deformation capacity.
23 Feb 2024
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are a biosensor to detect meat freshness, a cute and spooky sea creature, and how even shorter amounts of exercise can lead to benefits.
During masting, trees produce an increased amount of acorns. (Photo: Lea Végh)
22 Feb 2024
The effects of a phenomenon called tree masting on ecosystems and food webs can be better understood thanks to new theoretical models validated by real world observations.
Treatment with human MITO cells (bottom right) effectively suppresses myocardial fibrosis in rat models with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, compared to treatment with human CDCs (bottom left). Sham (top left) represents undamaged cardiac tissue, while Buffer (top right) represents damaged tissue without cell administration. (Masahiro Shiraishi, et al. Journal of Controlled Release. February 3, 2024)
21 Feb 2024
Regenerative therapy to treat heart failure is more effective when the mitochondria of the regenerative cells are activated prior to treatment.
16 Feb 2024
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are combining rice with animal cells, how microbes make tastier tea, and choosing flavorings and substitutes for salt to reduce the risk of hypertension.
sustainable cities
16 Feb 2024
At Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, four researchers in diverse fields of study – from urban planning to digital architecture – are working hard to reach sustainability goals.
Asia Research News Editor's Choice header
13 Feb 2024
AI records rare bird footage, Lighting up IoT and smart cities, Crystal language designs new materials, Detecting toxins with mobile phones, and Dragonfly wings for better aerodynamics. Plus join us for SciCom coffee. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.
02 Feb 2024
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are how exercising to music can help cognitive function, a material inspired by a mythological creature, and choking cancer cells using calcium.
Flow structure around a dragonfly wing model
23 Jan 2024
Corrugated wings exhibit larger lift than flat wings
Asia Research News Editors Choice
15 Jan 2024
Unleashing stem cells from dog urine, Electronic Tongue, Tapping into human motion energy, How neurons network, and A radical use for plastic bags. Plus Communicating science two decades on. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.
12 Jan 2024
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are how a King Kongesque ape went extinct, how antibodies can make you dizzy, and a material that can break down harmful chemicals using the sun.
29 Dec 2023
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are a dragon-like robot that can fight fires, how having a pet can avoid cognitive decline, and how an illusion can help us learn motor skills.
22 Dec 2023
Researchers from Osaka University developed a bio-logger for seabirds that enables long-term observation of rare behaviors. The bio-logger employs low-power depth sensors and accelerometers to identify rare behavior using a light-weight outlier detection model and records the behavior in a 5-min video. Observations using the bio-loggers on Streaked Shearwaters revealed novel aspects of head-shaking and foraging strategies. This approach will enable a wider range of animal behaviors in various environments to be observed.
15 Dec 2023
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are a motorized tentacle you can wear on your finger, a star that came from a long way away and a long time ago, and a new champion in the competition for the fastest robo-quadruped.
Asia Research News:  Editor's choice
13 Dec 2023
"Amaterasu" particle: a new cosmic mystery, Geckos inspire robotic device, Targeting cancer while protecting healthy cells, Honey, I shrunk the bear, Two species lost to science spotted again. Plus New Science Communication Resources. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.
Generating canine induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) without using feeder cells
13 Dec 2023
Scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed an efficient, non-invasive, and pain-free method to generate canine-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). They identified six reprogramming genes that can boost canine iPSC generation by 120 times compared to conventional methods using fibroblasts. The iPSCs were created from urine-derived cells without the need for feeder cells, an impossible feat until now. Their findings are expected to advance regenerative medicine and genetic disease research in veterinary medicine.
08 Dec 2023
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are how eels can transfer DNA, older babies falling for tricks that younger ones do not, and a crystal layer deep in the Earth.
01 Dec 2023
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are hungry, grumpy bears that don’t sleep, solving a 200-year-old mystery about dolomite, and how yoga can help people with epilepsy.
24 Nov 2023
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are screentime changing children’s brains, a bacterium that can help reduce toilet time, and a reproductive strategy that is definitely not the butt of the joke.
Wildlife ecologist Miyabi Nakabayashi
21 Nov 2023
Out of this living laboratory emerged unexpected insights on coexistence from an “unusual” source.
17 Nov 2023
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are sea cucumbers that glow in the dark, a needle that softens at body temperature, and the real size of our sun.
16 Nov 2023
The winners of the Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards were announced at the prestigious Environmental Microbiology lecture 2023, held at BMA House in London on November 16.
10 Nov 2023
Asia Research News monitors the latest research news in Asia. Some highlights that caught our attention this week are how mice help disperse seeds of a centennial blooming plant, a new isle created by recent volcanic activity, and how organisms breaking up microplastics is not always a good thing.
Camera trap photo of Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna
10 Nov 2023
Expedition led by Indonesian NGO YAPPENDA with Cenderawasih University students finds two species lost to science: Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna—one of Re:wild’s most wanted lost species—and Mayr’s honeyeater.
09 Nov 2023
New shrimp species in ancient hot spring, Super sprouts, How "warm-ups" work, New antiviral candidate, Solving voltage decay and from our blog: A sustainable future shines in TIE 2023. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.

Events

09 Nov 2023
Seeking to build experience in collaborative regional research and scientific capacity development in the Asia-Pacific region? Interested in writing grant proposals for global environmental change projects? Come and join our open capacity building seminars to receive grant proposal writing guidance and an introduction to the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)'s 2023 Call for Proposals. Two seminars are available on the 9th and 10th of November, and we warmly welcome participation from early career professionals and global change practitioners in the Asia-Pacific region.
24 Oct 2023
This Forum will take place on 24 October 2023 in Kobe, Japan. It will be held in hybrid format (on-site and virtual).
18 Nov 2020
The Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit will focus on accelerating innovation in supply chain resilience, urban food systems, alternative proteins, and affordable nutrition. Will you be joining the conversation virtually on November 18-20?
The Khwarizmi International Award (KIA) acknowledges the efforts made by researchers, innovators and inventors from across the globe and to appreciate their high quality research work and contributions to different fields of science and technology.
28 Aug 2019
The 2019 Genome Expo is scheduled to be held at UNIST from August 28 to 29, 2019.
20 Nov 2019
Accelerating technology and investment in Asia’s agri-food supply chain

Researchers

SpiderThailand
Biology of Spiders is my interest for research. Thai spiders are my focus group.
A/Prof Matthew Tan is a Food Security Specialist and an Aquaculture veteran with more than 20 years’ experience in the Agritech Industry. He is currently driving several sustainability projects in the area of Carbon Neutral Engineering and specializes in Aquaculture & Agriculture carbon credit & sequestration with regards to regenerative & restorative activities in the areas of biodiversity, CSR aquaculture and use of climate smart technologies with the aim to develop true impact projects to reduce carbon emissions, plastic waste, protect biodiversity, and drive investment into local communities as he assist companies with their Carbon Transition Strategy and Planning.
Hokkaido University
Eisuke Hasegawa
Dr. Eisuke Hasegawa is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, where he heads the Animal Ecology Laboratory. His research interests include animal ecology; evolutionary biology; natural selection; sociality; and ethology.
Yukio Yasui
Dr. Yukio Yasui is an Associate Professor at Kagawa University. He has dedicated his research work to ecology, ethology and evolutionary biology studies, with his more recent work on the evolution of sex.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Wong Sin Yeng
Dr. Wong Sin Yeng is an associate professor and Deputy Director at the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), whose work has led to identifying hundreds of new plant species in Southeast Asia.
Mags Crumlish
Dr. Crumlish has researched aquatic microbial diseases, specifically ones that have economic impact in global aquaculture, and potential solutions to such infectious diseases. Her current project seeks to develop vaccines against antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture.
Nguyen Huu Nghia
Nguyen Huu Nghia is the Director of the Center for Environment and Disease Monitoring in Aquaculture (CEDMA) at the Research Institute for Aquaculture No.1 (RIA1) under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. He has co-managed various research efforts in Vietnam aquaculture as well as published recent research into the use of nanobubbles.
Dr. Phan Thi Van
Dr. Van was previously the Director of the Research Institute for Aquaculture No.1 (RIA1) under Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. She has extensive expertise in aquatic animal health and aquaculture safety management.
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
Sophie St-Hilaire
Professor St-Hilaire is associate head and professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, City University of Hong Kong (CityU). She has extensively researched fish nutrition and diseases, including treatment efficacy, and has helped investigate fish disease outbreaks.
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Dr. Natrah Fatin Bt Mohd Ikhsan
Dr. Ikhsan is an associate professor at the Department of Aquaculture, University Putra Malaysia. She specializes in the field of Aquatic Microbial Ecology particularly in the development of innovative and sustainable microbial management strategies through understanding of the host-microbe interaction for enhanced microbial stability.
I am an organic chemist with broad interests in biochemistry and protein evolution.
Assistant Professsor Lauren Sallan is a fish paleobiologist who uses big data — the fossil record — to study how some species win and others lose. Her multiple TED Talks on the evolution of fishes, mass extinction and paleontology have received over 3 million views.
The Asian Institute of Technology
Dr. Dong currently works at the Asian Institute of Technology. He does research in Aquaculture, Pathology, Infectious Diseases, and Aquatic Bioscience.
I am a Health Economist/Researcher, working with UN agencies in the development of policy documents for developing countries including Nepal, Ethiopia and Pakistan.
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
Dr. Brian Kot Chin Wing
Dr Brian Kot is a registered diagnostic radiographer and veterinary imaging researcher in the City University of Hong Kong.
Hiroshima University
Prof. Miyabi Nakabayashi
Prof. Miyabi Nakabayashi works on tropical ecology, especially on seed dispersal by mammals in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Recently, she is focusing on seed dispersal system of fig trees (Ficus spp.) and large-seeded plants such as durians.
Duke-NUS Medical School
Picture of Prof. Gavin James Smith
Prof Smith’s research programme primarily investigates the ecology and evolution of zoonotic viruses and the molecular epidemiology of human respiratory pathogens.
City University of Hong Kong (CityU)
Prof. Chen Sheng
Prof. Chen’s current research covers research on bacterial antimicrobial resistance, virulence and tolerance in the veterinary, food and medical microbiology fields
Guangshun Jiang
Guangshun Jiang does research in ecology and zoology with a special focus on big feline ecology and conservation research.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Krishna Institute of Allied Sciences Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Deemed To Be University, Karad
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Dr. Connie Cassy Ompok is an early childhood education expert and a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and Education, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. She Started her career in Early Childhood Education as a preschool teacher (2004-2007), a lecturer in early childhood education at the Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education (2008-2016) before serving as a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at UMS (2016 until now).
Hokkaido University
Daisuke Hirano is an assistant professor at the Ocean and Sea Ice Dynamics Group, the Institute of Low Temperature Science of Hokkaido University, Japan.
Hokkaido University
Jorge García Molinos is an aquatic ecologist broadly interested in global change ecology and macroecology.
My current research is generally on the bioactive compounds, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties especially from agricultural by-product. Recently, I have found that these agricultural by-product has a promising potential to be used as biopesticide. They are not expensive, practical and will not significantly affect the environment and human health.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Associate Professor Sitti Raehanah Muhamad Shaleh is the director of Borneo Marine Research Institute at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Mangala Gunatilake is a veterinarian and professor at the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dr NK Prasanna
Dr NK Prasanna is currently working as Sr. Scientist & Editor, Indian Journal of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Research Journals Division at CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research, New Delhi. Before joining CSIR (NIScPR), she was at IIT Guwahati. Dr Prasanna completed her Ph.D from Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. In CSIR-NIScPR, She served one important flagship journals viz. Indian journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IJBB; ISSN: 0301-1208) It is pertinent to mention that the journal ranks first among all the NIScPR journals as per the available Journal Metrics by international agencies such as Thomson Reuters and Scopus. Details of remarkable academic achievements of IJBB which she spearheading, both nationally and globally. The Indian journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IJBB) is a premier SCI-indexed bimonthly peer-reviewed research journal that publishes original research articles in the subject area of biochemistry and biophysics
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Professor Dr. Indraneil Das is a conservation biologist at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Dr Heo is currently a senior lecturer at the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
Hokkaido University
Assistant Professor Ryota Kawanishi is an aquatic biologist at Hokkaido University, Japan.

Giants in history

Pakistani botanist Azra Quraishi (22 September 1945 – 22 November 2002) is recognised for developing virus-free seed potatoes that increased potato production in Pakistan by an estimated five per cent.
Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987), commonly referred to as the Birdman of India, was the first person to conduct systematic surveys of birds from across India.
Indian botanist Shipra Guha-Mukherjee (13 July 1938 – 15 September 2007) made a breakthrough discovery that enabled the genetic study of plants and, by extension, the development of improved varieties of rice, wheat, potatoes, and other crops.
During her short life, Fahire Battalgil (1902 - 1948) achieved renown as the first zoologist from Turkey to make strides in the field of freshwater fish biodiversity.
Lim Boo Liat (21 August 1926 – 11 July 2020), a leading authority in the conservation of Malaysia’s biological diversity, had his initial interest in the outdoors piqued by nature lessons in school. Lim, who helped found the National Zoo of Malaysia and re-establish the Malaysian Nature Society, had a particular interest in researching zoonotic diseases associated with small animals.
In his over 30 year career in rice research, Munshi Siddique Ahmad (1924 – 19 October 2011) developed more than 30 varieties of high-yielding rice, including the BRRI Shail strain, which was responsible for increasing the rice production of Bangladesh from 8 million tonnes in 1965 to 20 million tonnes in 1975.
Known as Mr. Natural Rubber, chemist and researcher B. C. Shekhar (17 November 1929 – 6 September 2006) introduced a number of technical innovations that helped put Malaysia’s natural rubber industry on the world map.
Ground-breaking cancer researcher Kamal Jayasing Ranadive (8 November 1917 – 11 April 2001) advanced the understanding of the causes of leukaemia, breast cancer and oesophageal cancer through the use of animal models. She was also among the first to recognise how susceptibility to cancer is linked to tumour-causing interactions between hormones and viruses.
Birbal Sahni (14 November 1891 – 10 April 1949), a pioneer of Indian palaeobotanical research, and founder of what is now the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in Lucknow, made multiple contributions to the study of prehistoric plants. These include the discovery of a new group of fossil gymnosperms (named Pentoxylae), reconstruction of the extinct Williamsonia sewardiana plant, and description of a new type of petrified wood from the Jurassic age.
The research of Filipino pharmaceutical chemist Luz Oliveros-Belardo (3 November 1906 – 12 December 1999) focussed on essential oils and other chemicals derived from native Philippine plants.
Thai physician and conservationist Boonsong Lekagul (1907 – 1992) made major contributions to the preservation of his country’s wildlife.
Lü Junchang (1965–9 October 2018) was a Chinese palaeontologist who is remembered as one of the most important dinosaur researchers of the last 50 years. Lü was an expert on reptiles that lived during the Mesozoic period about 252 million years ago. Cumulatively, Lü and his colleague/competitor Xiaolin Wang described and named more than 50 new species of flying dinosaurs known as pterosaurs.
Filipina chemist María Orosa (29 November 1892–13 February 1945) fought malnutrition and food insecurity in the Philippines by devising over 700 culinary creations including Soyalac, a nutrient rich drink made from soybeans, and Darak, rice cookies packed with Vitamin B1, which could prevent beriberi disease caused by Vitamin B1 deficiency. She was also a partisan of the guerrilla movement resisting Japanese occupation during World War II, and died after being struck by shrapnel while working in her laboratory during the Battle of Manila.
Eminent Filipina scientist and educator Clara Lim-Sylianco (18 August 1925 – 23 July 2013) is remembered for her extensive research on mutagens – often-carcinogenic agents that permanently alter genetic materials such as DNA – antimutagens and bioorganic mechanisms.
Research by Filipino plant scientist Benito Vergara (23 June 1934 – 24 October 2015) on the physiology of rice led to the development of deep-water and cold-tolerant rice varieties. Vergara also made several contributions to expanding public awareness of rice science.
Chinese palaeontologist, archaeologist and anthropologist Pei Wenzhong (January 19, 1904 – September 18, 1982) is regarded as a founder of Chinese anthropology.
Chinese agronomist Yuan Longping (7 September 1930 – 22 May 2021) developed the first varieties of the high-yield, hybrid rice that brought food security to multiple countries including China, which had been ravaged by food shortages as recently as the mid-20th century.
Ali
Little is known about Ali, a teenager from Sarawak, Malaysia, who was chief assistant to the famous naturalist Alfred Wallace. Most of what is known comes from Wallace’s writings. Ali accompanied Wallace on expeditions throughout the Malay Archipelago from December 1855 to February 1862.
The techniques that make industrial pearl culturing possible were developed over a century ago at the Misaki Marine Biological Station in Japan. The station’s first director, Professor Kakichi Mitsukuri, emphasized to Kokichi Mikimoto in 1890 that stimulating pearl sac formation was important for pearl growth, and they went on to successfully develop methods for culturing pearls.
Indian organic chemist Asima Chatterjee (1917 to 2006) studied the medicinal properties of plant products, especially compounds known as vinca alkaloids.
Motoo Kimura (13 November 1924 – 13 November 1994) was a Japanese theoretical population geneticist who is best remembered for developing the neutral theory of molecular evolution.
Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (30 November 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a scientist and inventor who contributed to a wide range of scientific fields such as physics, botany and biology.
Rinchen Barsbold (born 21 December 1935) is a Mongolian palaeontologist and geologist who was instrumental in discovering and recovering one of the largest dinosaur collections in the world from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China.
Osamu Shimomura (27 August 1928 – 19 October 2018) was a Japanese organic chemist and marine biologist who dedicated his career to understanding how organisms emitted light.
Woo Jang-choon (8 April 1898 – 10 August 1959) was a Korean-Japanese agricultural scientist and botanist.
Joo-myung Seok (November 13, 1908 – October 6, 1950) was a Korean butterfly entomologist who made important contributions to the taxonomy of the native butterfly species in Korea.
Janaki Ammal Edavalath Kakkat (4 November 1897 – 7 February 1984) was an Indian botanist who studied plant chromosomes and genetics.
Salimuzzaman Siddiqui (19 October 1897 – 14 April 1994) was an artist and chemist from Pakistan whose research focused on natural products from plants.
Rapee Sagarik (4 December 1922 – 17 February 2018) was Thailand’s renowned expert on orchids.
Maqsudul Alam (14 December 1954 – 20 December 2014) was a biologist from Bangladesh who is renowned for his research on genome sequencing
Susan Lim (14 February 1952 – 2 August 2014) was a Malaysian parasitologist who specialized in studying a class of flatworms, the Monogeans, which are parasites of fishes.
Kono Yasui (16 February 1880 – 24 March 1971) was a Japanese botanist who researched the genetics of poppies, corn and spiderworts and surveyed the plants that had been affected by the nuclear fallout after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Julian Arca Banzon (13 March 1908 – 13 September 1988) was a biochemist from the Philippines who was a pioneer in alternative fuel research. Banzon investigated the use of indigenous crops as sources of renewable fuels and chemicals.
Rampa Rattanarithikul is a Thai entomologist who is a leading expert on mosquitoes. Rattanarithikul began her scientific career as a technician collecting mosquito specimens for the United States Operations Mission (USOM) malaria control program. Throughout her career, she discovered 23 species and officially described 13 others.
Meemann Chang (born 17 April 1936) is a Chinese palaeontologist who studied the fossils of ancient fish to understand the evolution of life. By examining fossils, she uncovered new insights on how vertebrates, animals with a backbone, migrated from the sea and became adapted to live on land.
Michiyo Tsujimura (17 September 1888 – 1 June 1969) was a Japanese agricultural scientist and biochemist recognized for her research of green tea components.
Roseli Ocampo-Friedmann (23 November 1937 – 4 September 2005) was a Filipino-American scientist whose research focused on cyanobacteria and microorganisms that inhabit extreme environments.
Min Chueh Chang (10 October 1908 – 5 June 1991) was a Chinese-American biologist who studied fertilization in mammalian reproduction.
A Japanese surgeon, Tetsuzo Akutsu (20 August 1922 – 9 August 2007) built the first artificial heart capable of keeping an animal alive.
Gloria Lim (1930-2022) was a mycologist from Singapore who studied tropical fungi. One of the first students to attend University of Malaya when it was founded in 1949, she went on to become the first female Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Singapore.
Edgardo Dizon Gomez (7 November 1938 – 1 December 2019) was a Filipino marine biologist who recognized the need to protect marine resources, especially coral reefs, in the Philippines.
Võ Quý (1929 – 2017) was a Vietnamese ornithologist who studied the destruction of tropical forests and agricultural lands in Vietnam by Agent Orange, a herbicide used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. In addition to planning forest restoration projects, Quý rediscovered the rare eastern sarus crane, an endangered species that had vanished during the war.