The Team Members

We are a research group within the  Biology Discipline  at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, located in the warm and welcoming environment of Negara Brunei Darussalam.  We are exploring the effects of climate change and increasing human pressure on the species and natural communities  living  in the estuary and mangroves of Sungai Brunei and the Brunei bay.

Our research is focused on the effects of acidification and climate warming.

We are especially interested in monitoring changes in the gastropod molluscs (snails), bottom sediment macrobenthos (polychaete worms) and phytoplankton communities. 

*Pic : Echinolittorina snails escaping the heat emitted from the rock surface

We are six researchers in our team-

1. Dr David John Marshall, Associate Professor, Biology Group, FOS, Universiti Brunei Darusssalam,
2. Dr Gianluca Polger, Post-Doctoral research fellow

3. Mohammad Belal Hossain, Ph.D candidate

4. Aimimuliani Adam, Ph.D candidate

5. Nursalwa Baharuddin, Ph.D candidate
6. Sorya  Proum, Ph.D candidate

Dr Gianluca Polger

I obtained my Laurea Degree in Natural Sciences (2004) and Ph.D. in Ecological sciences (2009) from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy. I am interested in the evolutionary ecology of tropical intertidal ecosystems (tidal mud flats and mangrove ecosystems), with special reference to water-to-land vertebrates transitions, in morphological and molecular systematics of gobies (Teleostei: Perciformes: Gobiidae), and in popularization of science. I mainly worked on amphibious gobies, or mudskippers (Gobiidae: Oxudercinae). My on-going studies in Brunei include the eco-physiology of tropical intertidal animals, and biodiversity of Brunei estuarine systems.





Mohammad Belal Hossain

  The focus of my research is to look at the effects of estuarine     acidification on benthic community structure and functioning in the Brunei estuarine system. Some established univariate and multivariate statistical tools will be used to determine how the benthic ecosystem is responding to an estuarine acidification gradient. The expected results may help us understanding the effects of oceanic acidification in the near future.

Aimimuliani Adam

Research Interest : Phytoplankton, Harmful algal blooms, barnacle and benthic filter feeders.

Ph.D project title : Ecological pattern and processes in Brunei estuarine system (BES).

Currently project being carried out in related to phytoplankton abundance, composition and distribution along Brunei estuarine. The samplings are carried out since August 2011 in 4 stations (Pulau Chermin, Sg. Bunga, Pintu Malim & Kedayang River). The aim of this study is to determine how the phytoplankton distribute along the estuary gradient.

Nursalwa Baharuddin

I am currently interested in the physiological performance of gastropods in the tropical mangrove system in relation to climate warming. A general prediction on ectothermic animals is that climate warming will severely impact tropical organisms than mid-latitudinal organisms. This is because tropical ectotherms live closer to their lethal thermal limits and are restricted in capacity to thermally acclimate these limits. My research will explore the thermal tolerance and lethal temperature of mangrove gastropods through determining their cardiac performance with further heating of temperature.

The question on whether body sizes, microhabitat and phylogenies of these gastropods have effects to their physiological performance will also be investigated.  Habitat temperature will be determined as organisms responded to the climate shifts via physiological adaptation through evolutionary history.  By synthesizing these factors, we will be able to understand whether the generality of predicted climatic vulnerability can be applied to tropical ectotherms specifically mangrove gastropods. This will provide a comprehensive understanding as how semi-terrestrial and marine organisms function in the response of ecological systems to climate warming.

Prior to joining David Marshall’s group, I earned M. Sc (Hons) in Environmental Science at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand working on the distribution and factors affecting the abundance of mudsnail,  Amphibola crenata in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary under the supervision of Associate Professor Islay Marsden and Professor Jennifer Brown.  The project was also in collaboration with National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Christchurch, New Zealand. 
Sorya Proum

My research involves assesing the combined effects of eutrophication, acidification and pollution in the Brunei Estuarine System (BES), particularly  toxicants: heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn), nutrients  : ( N, P, S, Cl, Br) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon ( PAHs). This research interests lie within the monitoring   the different spices, sizes, locations and season of gastropod (Snail: Thias) relates to its surface sediments along the Sungai Brunei Estuary. The technics will be used for parameters’ evaluation are Inductively Couples Plasma (ICP), Ion Chromatography (IC) or Flow Injection Analysis (FIA), Gas Chromatography Mass (GC-MS) and  High Performance Liquid Chromatography  (HPL). 

This research will  introduce the model of Diffusion Gradient in Thin-Film (DGT) Probes in the field to understand the bio-accumulate of metals, nutrients and organic pollutants   on this device in model systems and natural waters. This work will be accomplished through a series of integrated laboratory, field, and modeling studies.

Researcher building a model to monitor temperature change.

Biophysical models used to mimic body temperature of snails of different sizes

Postgraduate students sampling the sediment from the Brunei estuary

Sample of polychaete worms collected from the muddy sediment of the estuary

Heart beat of Thais snails - used as an indicator of physiological stress

Exposure to acidic estuarine water dissolves the shells of snails. Increasing shell dissolution is seen from left to right.

N.B. click on the researchers URL link above  for collaboration, consultancies, discussions or any queries