Seagrass Specialist in Sabah | Marine Scientist trained in Universiti Malaysia Sabah | Seagrass Conservationist | Nature Educator
Yap T. K. @ Michael
I was born and raised in a small town called Sungai Petani, Kedah, northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. Since young, I’ve always been fascinated by the nature environment, especially by the mysterious deep ocean. The passion to explore and understand the secret of nature had led to the development of my passion for aquarium keeping and gardening – from guppy & Koi to assassin snails, and from succulent plants & cactus to carnivorous plants.
Even though I had not grow up along the coast, the obsession for the ocean had brought me to University Malaysia Sabah to further my study. After completing my bachelor degree of Marine Science in 2006, I worked for Sipadan Water Village Resort at Mabul Island. This is not only an opportunity to study the rich biodiversity around Semporna waters, but also allows me to continue honing my diving skills and sharing marine knowledge with tourists.
After several years, I moved back to Sungai Petani, and worked in different environments: as a sales executive for a factory, and then an aquaculture farm. At the same time, I still tried to write blogs, sharing knowledge about marine life, and raising awareness through social media and blogs. Still, that didn’t seem enough for me.
In 2015, a proposal was presented to conduct research in seagrass transplantion. This was an opportunity to combine my passion for marine and gardening, and to explore something that noone has done locally. So, in 2016 I returned to Borneo Marine Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah to pursue my master degree in seagrass transplantion, and completed my study in 2019.
During Power Shift Malaysia Sabah Youth Camp in 2016, seagrass was selected as my group project as its on going projects and good example to explore limitless possibilities, by working with different people from different field and expertise. From there, a youth group called Seagrass Guardians was formed, from social media Facebook, to giving talks and exhibition to raise awareness of seagrass, until 2020 was successfully registered as NGO based in Sabah. In 2018 I also leading a SCR of Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd, a mitigation project to relocate seagrass from reclamation. Hereby, I committed to share my knowledge, and provide technical advice and support in seagrass conservation and restoration in Sabah especially, even in Malaysia and other countries.
Furthermore, I also member of Alpha Team Organization ATO and Project ClimatEducate, international youth NGO focusing in climate change education and initiative grassroot movement. In 2017 was promoted as Malaysia Project Leader and then Regional Manager for East Asia, South East Asia and Pacific Regional Hub from 2018 – 2019. My role was primary as advisory promote climate change education on marine environment, especially in seagrass and blue carbon.
I had also worked with the (short-lived) Ara Dinawan Research, Education and Conservation Centre as associate research in seagrass conservation and marine education, and with the diving operator Dive Borneo Bah as inhouse marine biologist. All those aimed to promote education and awareness to tourists in sustainable tourism and how we can do our part to love, care, protect, conserve and restore our marine habitats.
In 2020, I was selected to participate in South East Asia Young Talented Young Scientist Program, working in Nanning, Guanxi, China for a year. Besides taking care of coral and conducting seaweed indoor culture, I was also involved with local dugong sanctuary in providing technical advisory in seagrass transplanting and restoration, aimed to restore degraded seagrass beds and attract dugong back to those waters.
On the other hand, I also involving with jellyfish blooming and identification establishing jellyfish inventory in Sabah, together with Borneo Marine Research Institute, University Malaysia Sabah. This help to create a guideline for general public and tourism operators to stay alert when they encounter any jellyfish, precaution and first aid to treat jellyfish stung.
Not satisfying with just seagrass and jellyfish, I also hope to connect with more people, either NGOs, academicians, research institute and any marine related agencies, to share and enrich our knowledge, which later can share with general public through science communication. Hopefully can showcase all those at Tanjung Aru Marine Ecosystem Center. In hope can inspire more people especially younger generation to venture into marine conservation, sustainable eco-tourism and advocacy in climate change as well.
