About

My involvement in wildlife conservation blends my passion for nature and my interest in travel. Germinated in a rural village, my spiritual 'root' found the natural 'soil' of the rural environment as the medium in which to grow. When I moved and grew up in a megapolitan city, I missed and keep seeking the natural places where I used to play, learn, and interact with. That's what motivated me to learn life sciences at the University of Indonesia. From there, I had, and also developed, some opportunities to explore natural places in Indonesia as well as in other countries. I have been enjoying so much, and am still amazed by, the biological and cultural diversity in different islands of Indonesia. In those places, I learned how natural and social systems operate in different conditions. Beyond that, I especially value the dialogue and friendships with the people. In my conservation career, I have been moving around a bit in terms of my focus taxa/species, organization, as well as the places in which I have been working and studying. So far, I have worked with more than 3 different international organizations including Wildlife Conservation Society, Conservation International, and now with WWF. I used to study, and tried to help conserve, different taxa such as coral reef and fishes, birds, plants, general forest biodiversity, orangutan and other primates. Now I work on the tiger, smaller cats, as well as other mammals. I consider myself lucky that I could experienced living in several islands in Indonesia (mainly Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi) and pursue academic study in three different continents: Asia (in my home country Indonesia), Europe (when I studied at the University of East Anglia), and now, America (Virginia Tech).

I started to focus on the study and conservation of the tiger, smaller wildcats, and other mammals in 2004. At this time, I have a unique position of being an academician as well as a conservation activist. As an academician, I work as a Graduate Research/Teaching Assistant while pursuing a doctoral study at Virginia Tech. At the same time, I also maintain my close association with the WWF's field conservation team in Sumatra who is working hard to promote the conservation of the remaining forests and wildlife. In addition to learning about technical stuffs related to wildlife science and management, I am now also keen to learn about learning, teaching, and - believe it or not - thinking; and of course I also enjoy exploring the great landscape of southwest Virginia and try to be a local in the lovely little town of Blacksburg.