“There is no other example on the globe of an island so closely surrounded by other islands on every side, yet preserving such a marked individuality in its forms of life.”
Alfred Russel Wallace (1880) on Sulawesi
I have been on five expeditions to the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2024. Joined by collaborators from UC Berkeley, Museums Victoria in Australia, University of Louisiana, and the Bogor Zoology Museum in Indonesia, I have collected gut microbiome and blood samples from vertebrates along elevational transects of the mountains of Katopasa, Torompupu, Dako, Ilomata, Klabat, Ambang, and the sub-island of Sangihe. My work builds a database of endemic malaria species, both to better understand coevolution patterns and to identify invasive malaria that may cause disease. The overarching goal of our collaborative efforts is to document vertebrate and symbiont diversity in previously unstudied montane localities on an island infamous for its faunal endemism.
Check out my expedition media gallery! Here I highlight what goes into fieldwork this remote at such a large scale, and the necessity of building collaborative relationships with international research institutes and local Sulawesi communities.
