After I graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from National University of Singapore in 2016, my then research advisor offered me the opportunity to work in his lab. During this period, I conducted mist-netting locally and regionally, assessed the bioacoustics of various birds species including oscines (jungle-flycatchers), suboscines (tyrant-flycatchers) and non-oscines (owls), and worked on the phylo- and population genomics of several Australasian birds. Time flies when you are enjoying it, my 1-year contract extended into a 4-year commitment. In 2020, I flew north to Germany and began my PhD at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München.
I have broad interests in evolutionary biology; using avian models to gain a better understanding on speciation and introgression. Why birds? Not only are they arguably the most well-studied animal group, they are fascinating creatures that have my full attention – an important ingredient in a long research journey. I am particularly interested in recently diverged species complexes because they are often great examples of evolutionary lineages at a crossroad.
As a wildlife lover, I am also concerned about the impact of illegal trade. Several projects that I was involved in centred around songbirds threatened by the trade activities in Asia. Having spent quite some time in various parts of the SEA region for fieldwork and personal birding trips, it is always heartbreaking to see rare birds in the cage and not in the wild. As a member of the Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group, I hope to contribute by using genetic approaches to uncover cryptic species and recommend an appropriate conservation status for the overlooked species.
Here, I document my new journey and research muse. Warning: this is not meant to be a research blog but might turn bird nerdy and I reserve the right to post anything that is of interest to me.
hoot cooks for uuuu 