I am Angka Mahardini from Indonesia and a Junior Research Fellow of the Indonesian Biodiversity Research Center (IBRC) which is located in Bali. I have been granted an honor to have an internship at the Smithsonian Institution under the supervision Emma Ransome, Amanda Windsor, Allen Collins and Chris Meyer. I started my internship with training in sample handling and packaging by Paul Greenhall. For good curation, I noticed that handling and packaging of samples are very essential to avoid damage, and that databasing is acutely important to inventory the specimens.
During my internship, I have been learning many things related to biodiversity research, particularly marine biodiversity. DNA barcoding is one method that has been used a lot in revealing biodiversity richness based on genetics. I am applyong this method to analyse the diversity of Decapoda (crabs, shrimps, etc.) that live in dead coral heads in Indonesia. In addition, I have had a chance to learn Next Generation Sequencing techniques completely from the preparation steps, and will soon get to see the first run of data.
I am supported to be at the Smithsonian by USAID, and I feel so grateful to be here, not only because of having a chance to learn many new things but also I have such a great experience to meet world renown scientists. After all these great experiences, I look foward to share all that I have learned with all my colleagues at the IBRC and be able to implement these techniques in Indonesia generally.
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