Looking back

Here is a small word from each of our expedition members reflecting on our time in Malaysia.

Jessica Young:

I was very excited to take on the challenge of co-leading an expedition after having a superb experience on the 2018 Trinidad Expedition. I expected the role of leader would not be an easy one and indeed there were considerable obstacles on our expedition journey. As leaders we were under a significant amount of pressure and forced to make some very difficult decisions. We had the support of an amazing team whose help made the challenges that much easier to overcome. Everybody in the team worked incredibly hard and held their nerve even in the most stressful of times. Once in Malaysia, the team continued to show their commitment and enthusiasm. It was fantastic to lead and be part of such a strong and resilient team. Whilst in Malaysia we met some truly wonderful people; our hosts for the expedition kept us well looked after further improving on a brilliant experience. The education we received from our hosts and experience was not only in the field of marine biology but of the cultural history of the country.

The preliminary results from our project are promising and we are excited to continue to work on the project. For me what is even more exciting is the establishment of a new relationship between the University of Glasgow and the Universiti Sains Malaysia. There are opportunities for both universities, staff and students, to benefit from this new relationship. Through this I am eager to see what the future holds. Our expedition may have only been two and a half weeks long but I think everybody on the team can agree the experience we had was invaluable and will stay with us throughout our academic careers. I have made some great friends both in the team and at USM. I have been challenged as a leader and as a team member and have improved in my abilities to play both roles. I have also seen what I am capable of achieving and I’ve learnt to appreciate the incredibly high value of teamwork.

Sarah Cumming:
The Malaysia expedition was such an amazing experience for me and has taught me so many lessons and new information. It was very challenging, especially when we had to transition from the Sri Lanka expedition to the Malaysia expedition, but this just taught me how to work better under pressure and brought the team together as we worked hard in determination to make sure the expedition would go on. Everyone on the expedition and who helped us on our way to the expedition were amazing and I can’t thank our professors at CEMACS enough for bringing together a fantastic and informative trip for us so quickly. Also, big shout out to Mama for making us the most delicious food. It was very interesting learning the methods for a project in a different environment to what I’m used to (sunny and warm as opposed to rainy and cold) and getting to see some of the country whilst doing so was amazing. I particularly enjoyed visiting the oyster farm and learning how CEMACS has worked with the locals to make oyster aquaculture more relevant and sustainable in Malaysia. Overall, the expedition was an amazing experience which has opened my eyes to the world of scientific research and made me look forward to the prospect of doing more work like this in the future.

Paddy McCleave:

After worries that we may end up going nowhere we ended up taking part in an incredibly rewarding and eye opening microplastics project in malaysia. We took a number of sand samples at beaches on Langkawi and at a marine protected area to test for plastics. The marine protected area gave me a real insight into the problems of plastic as the whole beach was covered in plastic. After collecting at the marine protected area we were able to do some snorkelling which was easily the highlight of the trip. Although the project was a lot of work I am so glad I got the chance to see such an amazing country and do such amazing things.

Peter Booth:

I couldn’t be more pleased with how the expedition went! It was incredible to experience such a beautiful country and meet such amazing people with so much to teach us. On this trip I wanted to get valuable research experience however, since this expedition had a zoology focus and I am doing a biochemistry degree, I feared the experience wouldn’t be relevant to my degree. Fortunately, this was not the case! The lab work was totally applicable to my course and during our microplastics project we traveled to the main campus and got experience using an infra-red spectrometer, which was not only cool but will be useful during my course!
Overall, the highlight of our time at CEMACS would have been traveling to the marine park off the coast of Langkawi; being able to experience the biodiversity in the sea first hand was incredible.
In conclusion, I am very proud of what everyone involved managed to achieve, and hope that UofG and USM can strengthen the bond created by this expedition!

Carla Chatham:

Despite initially not having a clue what was going to happen with the expedition I couldn’t be more pleased with how everything worked out. I did not know what to expect I was just extremely grateful to still get the opportunity to go away over the summer. I’m thankful to everyone at CEMACS that was involved in planning this unforgettable trip for us so last minute. From the moment we arrived everyone was so lovely and welcoming. We managed to visit so many amazing places in such a short space of time. Whilst also gaining valuable field research experience in unique environments such as mangroves and coral reefs. I really enjoyed the plastics project that we started working on and looking forward to seeing the outcome of that. Hopefully, we are all able to return to Malaysia at some point in the future and that other students from Glasgow can enjoy this beneficial experience.

With the unfortunate events that happened in Sri Lanka, which was the original location for the expedition, leading to a complete new expedition having to be created for Malaysia in just the space of a couple weeks, I had absolutely no idea what to expect heading there.

Even With us no longer being able to complete any individual projects, my favourite bit was that we got the opportunity to work alongside the Universiti Sains Malaysia on a micro plastics project. With this I managed to gain valuable lab skills that I will be able to take with me, as well as further experience in field work.

It wasn’t all work, we got to meet some incredible people who were so warm and welcoming, helping us to get fully immersed in their culture. But one of the best things I will take from this expedition is that the five-other people who I started this journey with, all of them truly made this experience I won’t forget.