Lignins, aromatics and more with Dr Salwana from brunei

Earlier in November, Dr Salwana Md. Jaafar from the Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (IBER) at Universtiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) visited NTU as part of a collaborative project with the Asian School of the Environment. Dr Salwana worked a lot with Dr Nanette Raczka from the Tropical Forest Ecology and Biochemistry Lab (Team Underground) on lab analyses of belowground traits in the forests of Brunei Darussalam. While she was here, she also conducted a quick workshop on lab analyses of wood samples with focus on lignin, aromatics, cellulose and fiber for members of the TEE lab.

Dr Salwana giving us an introduction to the modified protocol she used for her analyses of leaf compounds

In between the presentation and lab sessions, we also brought her out for lunch

Lunch with Sean, Eleanor, Weng Ngai, Jo Lyn and Calvin from the TEE lab

Back in the lab, we tried some of the chemical analyses with wood sawdust samples from both Brunei and Singapore, but unfortunately we were too engrossed in the hands on activity and did not get any footage until the later shaking and incubation step.

The treated wood samples being incubated for 48 hours

Dr Salwana also conducted a presentation on her research on exotic Acacia in Brunei Darussalam and their effects on native forest environments and communities. Of course to us members of the Tee Lab, the section on potentially using insects as biocontrol agents was especially interesting!

We would like to thank Dr Salwana for sharing her knowledge, and Dr Rahayu Sukri from IBER and Dr Eleanor Slade from NTU ASE for making this collaboration possible. Dr Rahayu and her team has also been very helpful with coordinating our visits and research trips to Brunei and with our sample permits.

We also look forward to future collaborations moving onward!