Climate Conversations with Dr Shawn Lum
Time: 10 March 2021 (Wednesday) | 8-9pm
Livestream talk followed by Q&A
Join us in the concluding talk in Climate Conversations series featuring prominent ecologist and President of Nature Society (Singapore), Dr Shawn Kaihekulani Yamauchi Lum.
With origins stretching back to 1921 when the Singapore Natural History Society was formed, the Nature Society (Singapore) is a volunteer-led NGO dedicated to the appreciation, conservation, study and enjoyment of the natural heritage in Singapore, Malaysia and the surrounding region. Dr Lum's leadership of the Society since 2008 has been associated with many conservation and outreach initiatives that aim to make nature part of the Singaporean identity. He will share about the efforts by Nature Society focused on marine conservation and coastal cleanup, and how we can play a role in protecting our marine environments and biodiversity.
The programme will be hosted and moderated by Zhang Baoxin (Curator, Public Programmes).
ABOUT DR SHAWN LUM
(President of Nature Society Singapore and Senior Lecturer, NTU Asian School of the Environment)
Dr Shawn Kaihekulani Yamauchi Lum is a tropical rainforest ecologist. He was born in Hawaii and was educated at Harvard University and obtained his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1993. Dr Lum joined the Natural Sciences and Science Education faculty at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore before moving to the Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2015. He is the current President of the Nature Society (Singapore).
Dr Lum’s work on forest fragmentation and regeneration has aided the protection of Singapore’s forests and formed the basis for public outreach of our natural heritage. He also does work in conservation biology and environmental education, and interacts with a wide range of people, from fellow researchers to naturalists, primary school pupils, and educators. He is a recipient of the President’s Award for the Environment 2017 and Public Service Medal 2020.
ABOUT CLIMATE CONVERSATIONS
Climate Conversations runs parallel to Planet or Plastic? exhibition and brings together climate scientists, ecologists and artists in a programme of talks that spotlights some of the most profound stories from the frontlines of conservation and climate innovation.
The series launched with a talk by Cynthia Doumbia (Director, International Exhibitions at National Geographic Society), who spoke about how this multi-year initiative harnesses storytelling to tackle the global plastic waste crisis and effect meaningful change. The second session by Intan Suci Nurhati (senior researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences’ Research Center (LIPI) for Oceanography and National Geographic Explorer) highlighted issues in plastics management and her recent research work on the rising tide of pandemic-driven plastic waste. Mandy Barker (photographer and National Geographic Explorer), whose work involving marine plastic debris has received global recognition, shared how she has been working alongside marine scientists to transform data on ocean plastics into arresting collages of pollution in the third talk.
Shawn Kaihekulani Yamauchi Lum (President of Nature Society (Singapore), and Senior Lecturer, NTU Asian School of the Environment) will join us in the concluding iteration in the series.