Dr. Alex Figueroa is an American herpetologist who has been living in Singapore for the last 11 years. His research interest centres around evolutionary ecology, where he is mostly interested in the evolutionary relationships among snakes, and the evolution and ecology of arboreal snakes (treesnakes). Recently, he has published a monographic checklist covering the amphibians and reptiles of Singapore. Over the years, Alex has also worked as a biological consultant, performing field surveys for various environmental impact assessments (EIA) in Singapore and the U.S. Currently, Alex is a research associate at the Lee Kong Chian Museum of Natural History where he works for the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature and continues doing research.
Holly Siow is an ecologist with 13 years of professional expertise in biodiversity conservation, ecology, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) projects. She specializes in ensuring sustainable and ecologically sensitive practices in collaboration with clients.
Holly's experience includes to research and application-based projects across diverse taxonomic groups. Her portfolio includes vulnerability assessments of mangrove ecosystems to climate change, meticulous macroinvertebrate surveys in freshwater and forest environments, botanical surveys of freshwater swamp forests, and herpetofauna population studies in natural habitats.
Holly is an advocate for harnessing the power of biodiversity to address global challenges. She believes that restoring and preserving natural habitats, coupled with innovative nature-based strategies, is not just a scientific endeavour but a holistic solution to a myriad of environmental issues.
Just 8 km off the eastern coast of Bintan is a tiny island with an area of 15 ha. However small, Nikoi provides a landscape that illustrates nature’s power. Time is measured by natural patterns dictated by a certain set of Earth’s processes, evident in the daily rise and fall of the tide, exposing rocky shores, and the complete reconfiguration of Nikoi’s sandy beaches during each monsoon season. Residents and visitors (humans and fauna alike) have learned to adapt to these patterns rather than trying to control them. We wanted to understand more about the island’s habitats and inhabitants and decided on three main activities to accomplish this– camera trapping, biodiversity surveys, and guided walks.
As terrestrial biologists who focus on reptiles, initially, our intention was to survey the forest and perform guided terrestrial walks, although we were quite open to adapting the surveys and activities depending on what we found on the island since we had not visited it. However, Nikoi Island is small, and its land use history meant that terrestrial diversity was probably not very rich. Hence, we focused much of our surveys on the intertidal environment, which we are not too familiar with.
The first two nights, we did reconnaissance surveys of the forest and set up our camera traps—one by the beach and one in the forest. We explored the trail that stretched from one side of the island to the other, and a loop that crossed both forest and mangroves and ended along the beach. Amidst the tranquillity of the night, we were often accompanied by the cacophony of vocalizing flying foxes, which make their way to the island each night to feed on its offering of fruit.
We then spent the third night on a reconnaissance survey of the intertidal zone, an area that was teeming with life. We encountered sea cucumbers, brittle stars, and a variety of fish with almost every step we took! Our favourite experience on the rocky shore was when an octopus reached out and touched Alex’s foot.
We were lucky that our trip coincided with the turtle nesting period. We got to witness a nest of Hawksbill Turtle hatchlings making their way to their sea, and managed to catch a mama turtle coming up onto the beach in our camera trap.
While the island was small, and the walks very different from what we were used to, engaging with the resort staff, some of whom have been there since its inception, others only a few months, offered a treasure trove of insights that enriched our experience. We talked about nature and the intrinsic role it played in the local way of life (ranging from food and drink to toys and buildings), shared experiences from places we lived in, and listened in suspense as they recounted tales of spirits and the supernatural. Ultimately, our stint in Nikoi was a rare opportunity for us to take a breather from our high-paced lives in Singapore, and appreciate a landscape where each sunset unfolded slowly, encouraging us to savour the moment and reconnect with the natural world.
Ubah Rumah is an art residency and archive inspired by stories of our region.
