2015/ Students wrote…

The field course is a truly amazing experience, everyone who is there is doing such interesting work and its amazing to see so many English speakers from different countries working together. Seeing wild orangutans just outside your room would happen nowhere else and the behavioural differences are immediately visible from those in a zoo or Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. The site is very well built and clean and everyone is so nice. But your surroundings are the important part and they are truly stunning. Bring a good camera to capture everything you see, especially the macaques and proboscis monkeys you see in the riverbank. Don't worry about the stress if doing the project, by the time I started mine I knew exactly what I wanted to do and had plenty of opportunities to discuss it. The presentation was also relaxed in front of everyone you had got to know over the two weeks. I would really encourage anyone to go on the trip even if you haven't any experience or specific interest in primate behaviour.

It was by far one of the most interesting and rewarding things I've ever done! Even considering the 5am treks, the swarming mosquitos and the endless showering, I would go back in a heartbeat. Not only did I get to see my favourite looking primate, the proboscis monkey but I also saw orang-utans, hornbills, gibbons, tarantulas, pythons and even caught a glimpse of a bearded pig! I felt like I was living in a David Attenborough documentary. Best course ever!!

This year saw me return to Danau Girang Field Centre after attending the course previously in July 2014. I decided to return to Sabah as it is such an awe inspiring place, and an opportunity I fear I won't have again. Once again I was met with the most beautiful scenery and extraordinary wildlife. This year we carried out a group research project on the Proboscis Monkeys where we were interested in their social organisation, and whether the way in which they position themselves in the tree provides protection for the more vulnerable individuals in the group, e.g the more vulnerable individuals will be surrounded by those who are more dominant. In the first week of the

course we were given the knowledge, and practice, of techniques which enabled us to conduct such a piece of research. We were shown how to collect data in a variety of ways such the use of Botanical Plots, Radio Tracking, Primate Surveys, line transects and Fecal Analysis.

We were also fortunate enough to get involved with other projects that are being conducted at the field center, such as the monitor lizard trapping. One of the PHD Students at the center allowed us to go along as he checked his traps for Monitor Lizards, of which we found two. He would then take some samples and send the Lizard on its way. It was certainly not something you see everyday. Days at Danau Girang are busy, but some of the most memorable I will ever have. Up early in the mornings to Observe Proboscis Monkeys and up late to walk the forest at night and see whats hiding in there. This year on the night walk we were lucky enough to see to two Civets and a slow loris, incredible!!

An unforgettable experience. Now I just need to find an excuse to return next year.

The Primate Behaviour and Ecology field course is a fantastic opportunity to experience a unique environment populated by wonderful wildlife, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world! Throughout the course you will learn a variety research methods, many of which you may not have used before. The locals at Danau Girang are brilliant guides who are extremely familiar

with the forest, and the other students and researchers there are very knowledgeable and friendly. I would recommend this field course to all undergraduates, particularly those with an interest in animal behaviour, although no doubt the course is also worth it in itself purely for the experience of this type of forest.

2014/ Students wrote…

The words 'beautiful', 'paradise' and 'life changing' are often used to describe Borneo and its wildlife diversity and these are entirely justified. Being able to experience the wonderment of biodiversity in its natural habitat is an experience one does not forget. When this is coupled with the expert tuition of the course leaders you gain an utterly unique opportunity to study and perfect behavioural observations in its purist form.

It was challenging and easily the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Will I go back ABSOLUTELY. The sound and heartbeat of the forest is now forever etched in my life. Worth every penny, every mosquito and every drop of sweat. Take me back!!!!

A once in a lifetime experience! I think that applying for the primate field ecology course in Borneo was one of the best decisions I ever made. Not only did I get to see heaps of wildlife in one of the most beautiful places in the world, I met some of the most interesting, intelligent and enthusiastic people from all over the world (China, America, Canada, France, Australia). I also learnt so much about habitat conservation and primate observation techniques.

If you are asking yourself whether to apply for this trip I would say you are a fool not to, it is absolutely priceless. Being able to sit in your room at night and listen to the forest is wonderful, and then in the morning being woken up by the long calls of a flanged male orang utan. I worried about how my fear of spiders may hinder me but after facing a tarantula it turns out I really don’t mind them at all. Words really can’t describe how much I enjoyed my time in Borneo. I really hope that I will have the chance to visit Danau Girang Field Centre again one day.

An unforgettable experience, unlike anything I'd done before and probably unlike anything I'll ever do again. A great taster into animal psychology

The field course gave me the opportunity to apply my research skills in a fantastic new environment, whilst researching a primate that interested me. We chose to do a group project on the Proboscis monkeys – something I had initially known nothing about! It was stimulating to work within a group and collecting data on the boats, as you could see so much from the river. I learnt so much from the whole experience and met so many interesting and lovely people. It was great that, although the initial focus is on the primates, you also get to learn about the work of the PHD students and get involved with the other amazing animals that Borneo is home to.

What I gained most from the course was a level of appreciation. Seeing and exploring the intricately balanced ecosystem, whilst being blown away by the vast and complicated array of behaviours shown by all species from the spiders to the orangutans, is something you cannot possibly appreciate without attending a course like this.

It was in the first three days where we got to try out lots of different methods. Every day we were up at 5:45 for the morning boat to carry out primate surveys along the Kinabatangan River. On these morning boats we would see macaques, silver langurs, proboscis monkeys, and that is just the primates. We also saw eight crocodiles one morning, bearded pigs, hornbills, storms stalks, egrets and kingfishers; absolutely incredible. After the morning boats we would then usually have something forest based, like tracking the slow loris’ sleeping sites, botanical plots or forest transects.

When we were in the forest we often saw orang utans, we had literally just got off the boats on the day we arrived at the centre and there was an orang utan right there. One day we did some parasitology (including feces collection) and thankfully found some healthy samples from the macaques. The afternoons would again be spent on the boat carrying out primate surveys or doing some other kind of data collection. In the evening we had night walks, slow loris tracking and crocodile catching. After the three days we had the chance to develop our own research project; I

was interested in the proximity between individuals of a family group of proboscis monkeys when they are feeding and resting. I know that before I went I was nervous about coming up with an idea for my project but once you get there the ideas begin to flow because there is just so much to observe.

2013/ Students wrote…

This field course for me was an absolutely priceless and unforgettable experience. Previous to it I haven't had any experience in field research so I was a bit anxious but the staff at Danau Girang Field Centre are all so friendly, helpful and encouraging, I soon found myself embracing jungle life. Even despite the heat and mosquitoes... I learned not only how to observe and collect primate data, but also about tracking animals, botanical plots and how important it is to understand the environment the animals live in, in order to understand the animals better, and also some basic parasitology, which I wouldn't have gotten the chance to do otherwise.

While I learned a lot about research and the technical and scientific sides of jungle life, I have to say that there is absolutely nothing that compares to seeing such beautiful animals in the wild. It may sound silly but the first time you see a wild orang utan above your head, or a group of elephants munching on some grass, you do fight back the tears, because it's just so emotional. Or the satisfaction you feel after standing around in the forest in the pitch black for an hour (freaking out every time you hear something) and you finally spot the tiny tarsier staring back at you with its magnificent, huge eyes. Aside from the animals, the field course is also about the people you meet-people from all over the world, from all sorts of backgrounds and occupations. And you end up really getting to know each other and, I like to think, making friends for life. And if you ever want to go travelling it'll be handy to know people, in our case, from New Zealand, Canada, or the Philippines!

It's hard to describe the field course in a few hundred words (I mean, my diary from the trip is about half of a fat notebook)-all I can say is that if you're interested in animals, in conservation, or just doing something you won't forget for the rest of your life, sign up for the field course!!

The primate behaviour field course I was lucky enough to be involved in during July and August of 2013 was certainly rewarding. It’s one thing reading about the research of others, but when it’s you out in the field collecting the data it’s quite something else. Particularly when given a very short amount of time to do so. Although, it wasn’t that difficult to get a decent amount of data when myself and the other Portsmouth University students decided to start our data collection at 6AM each morning! It was great to be able to learn so much about the behaviours of wild primates. For example, my own research, which focused on macaques, suggested that aggressive behaviours are often mimicked within play behaviours. Additionally, it was found that the pattern of grooming behaviour within a group seems to increase within the first 10 minutes following an act of aggression. I’d love to get a chance to further this research!

If you’re interested in primate behaviour and don’t mind having a gecko or two for a roommate, you should definitely give a field course such as this a go! I must say, the two weeks that I spent at Danau Girang Field Centre were two of the best weeks I’ve ever had. We saw and learnt so much about the area and the animals living within this ever shrinking habitat. During the two weeks we tracked tarsiers and slow lorises, observed macaques and proboscis monkeys, saw a mother and young orang utan – and those were just the primates! We learnt a number of techniques for studying these primates, from radio tracking, to parasitology and population surveying, as well as refining and putting into practice our observation skills. Living in the middle of the jungle, with the wildlife surrounding you was an amazing experience. It was no holiday; the centre was basic, with no internet, little phone signal and no hot water but this just added to the charm of the place and drew you into the atmosphere. The people at the field centre, both the staff and students, were fantastic, and living in an environment where you were surrounded by people who were passionate about what they were studying was inspiring. I would recommend this course to anyone with an interest in studying animals in the field. I feel as though I really cannot praise Danau Girang enough, I had the most fantastic time there and came away feeling motivated and privileged to have been able to be part of such a special place.