Saar & Jaima
We are so excited to welcome Jaima Smith as a staff scientist at PDXWildlife! She feels very passionately about conservation at both the local and global level. We’re hoping to help Jaima continue her research in Indonesia working on reintroduction programs, and also provide opportunities for students to participate in all facets of the rehabilitation/reintroduction process at both the Javan Gibbon Rescue and Rehabilitation Center and the Javan Primate Conservation Center. One of Jaima’s main goals for her time at PDXWildlife is to set up student research and involvement at the rescue centers in West Java. She will be heading to the Javan Primate Conservation Center in October and during her stay she will be looking into setting up an internship for PDXWildlife students. These internships will hopefully be in not only primate behavioral ecology, but also botanical studies and conservation education and outreach programs.
Jaima says, “I believe that successful conservation begins with education, so I am very eager to contribute to the development of education and conservation outreach programs, both for PDXWildlife projects locally and abroad.”
As a PDXWildlife staff scientist, some of Jaima’s goals are:
1) Develop behavioral guidelines for reintroduction (publish in Bahasa Indonesia) and contribute to the IUCN’s guidelines for reintroduction.
2) Visit Javan Primate Conservation Center and the Javan Gibbon Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in West Java this fall to discuss possible internship/research possibilities for researchers and/or students.
3) Expand research to include other rescue and rehabilitation centers in SE Asia.
4) Contribute to the development of education and conservation outreach programs and activities.
Research Opportunities for students:
1) Conduct behavioral observations on gibbons in the reintroduction program to determine their suitability for release.
2) Help to monitor gibbons after they are released into the wild.
3) Conduct habitat quality surveys to determine the suitability of release sites for gibbons.
4) Participate in education and conservation outreach activities in local villages.
5) Collect behavioral ecological data on wild Javan gibbons.
We believe that Jaima has so much to offer PDXWildlife and can’t wait to see all the changes she’ll bring with her! Keep an eye out on her work and our internship page for future postings.
-Meg
