Tuesday, June 18, 2013

PROF PHILIPPE BOUCHET PRESENTS DETAILS OF BIODIVERSITY EXPEDITION



I HAVE just returned from a presentation by Prof Philippe Bouchet who headed a research expedition from September to December last year in Madang and Chimbu provinces.
Prof Bouchet works at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

UPNG’s Dr Ralph Mana (who is a collaborating lecturer from our local campus) told me that that museum is the oldest in the world and has collections of animal and plant life forms from all over the world.
From the partnering of organizations, institutions and countries, it looks good for young scientific researchers in PNG – particularly in zoology or animal science.

 Photo: Prof Philippe Bouchet. Dr Ralph Mana is at the back.

Out of this collaborative effort, a PNG woman scientist was selected and is working in Paris in similar tasks of identifying and classifying the life forms (as they did in Madang last year).

Dr Mana told me that in October, two UPNG students would also be sent to Central France where Prof Bouchet and his team have another laboratory set up.
The students will continue the efforts in further research and classification tasks.

I think this is a great effort and looks promising for our young PNG scientists and researchers.

(At the presentation I also met Dr Nicholas Garnier and some of our French “wantoks”.)

As I may have said in the past – France to me is not just football (soccer) and chocolates; top scientists like Pierre and Marie Curie, Blaise Pascal and Louis Pasteur were bred there. 
 

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