Fulbright Conference SE Asia

My high hopes for trapping in March did not materialize.  We caught two large monitor lizards and saw very little dhole sign.  We ended up with only 4 trap nights because my schedule did not overlap with my vet’s schedule.  However, he did get a week of wildlife handling training at Khao Khieo Open Zoo.  

During the middle of March, I attended the Fulbright Regional Enrichment Conference for American Fulbright Scholars in Southeast Asia, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference was truly the best conference I have attended by students, professors, and experts in various fields.  It was helpful to hear about other grantees experiences/frustrations in setting up projects in Asia.  I was excited to learn about interesting and worthwhile projects in everything from issues in public health and economics to the role of arts in modern Southeast Asia.  My presentation on dholes was the “highlight” of the conference because it was the only wildlife presentation and everyone was intrigued with the unknown species.

After a couple days break exploring Kuala Lumpur, I headed back to Bangkok to deal with a second break-in at my apartment and being locked out of my computer.  When I got back into the field, my vet was not available.  We finally coordinated our schedules, and I just set the 5 traps this morning (March 31st) in the same study area we have been focusing on last year.  I hope to keep them set for two weeks before the Thai New Year’s holiday, Songkran, around April 13th.  After Songkran, the focus of the month will be on trapping.  We will also coordinate student volunteers to interview villagers and draw blood samples from domestic dogs for disease testing.  I have a professor from a local university coming out to help me introduce the project idea to the village chiefs.