Evolutionary Biology Lab

From 6 - 9 April 2005, up to three NUS undergraduates - including our very own Farhan Ali - will present their research projects orally to an audience of peers, faculty, and mentors from the U21 community, at the University of Virginia, USA. The students will also submit their research for publication. Details are available online. Read on for a description of Farhan’s Trip.

By Farhan Ali. In April, I along with two other students from NUS were fortunate enough to go to USA for a student research conference in Charlottesville, USA. It was a unique experience (especially, the weather). Here are the photographs. Before that, I’d like to thank IRO and USP for the support and opportunity; Reuben Ng (who is the Chinese-looking fella in the photographs below) for travelling with me; Dr Singh, his wife, and Yinghui, who were the other Singaporeans in the conference; Helen Ang, UVA Singapore Students’ Association and Matthew Tan and wife for their warm hospitality; and last but not least, the Evolution Lab of NUS, especially the members who provided feedback for my presentation and Prof Meier, my supervisor for his kind support and advice. Evolutionary theory cannot explain the kindness of all these people.

	The group photo of the Universitas 21 Undergraduate Conference. Selected undergraduates from Hong Kong, United Kingdom, USA, Australia etc participated in this 3-day conference.
I was getting ready for the presentation. Mine was the first presentation after lunch under the Biomedical Sciences category (!).
	There I was presenting on monkeys and apes.
The three NUS delegates along with Dr Kuldip Singh, the faculty member who kindly accompanied us for the conference.
	Reuben and I having lunch at University of Virginia.
Apart from attending the conference, we also managed to tour Washington D.C. for a few days. Here, I was at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
	Primates!
This photo was taken when we toured New York City.
	Perhaps, our favourite photograph! Reuben and I managed to penetrate University of Columbia’s security and reach their psychology labs. Here, we met a very nice Columbia undergraduate, Sam, who was conducting research. It was a pleasant surprise for him to meet two unknown Singaporeans, and an eye-opener for us as we toured the campus of University of Columbia in New York City.