In Conversation: an interview with Professor Aileen Tan
Aileen Tan Shau Hwai is a professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Currently, she is the Director of the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) at USM and the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network (APUCEN). She was the first female president of the UNITAS Malacologica, based in Belgium, from 2013 to 2016.
Professionally, her field of expertise is in marine sciences, specializing in mariculture and conservation of molluscs. She is the first Malaysian woman to successfully culture oysters from eggs and sperms through artificial spawning. Her work on oysters, as featured in the website of World Oyster Society, has gained vast recognition, not only in Malaysia but internationally. Her pioneer oyster project in generating additional and sustainable income to the fishermen in Merbok, Kedah received 1st place in Entrepreneurship by University-Community Transformation Centre (UCTC), Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia 2015.
Aileen is also involved in building human capacity, receiving the Best Women Scientist Award for her work in empowering the women of the Johore Islands to earn their own income through the giant clam conservation programme. To date, she has published more than 100 articles in various scientific journals, monographs, proceedings, conferences and seminars.
Q: Thank you so much for speaking to us, Professor Tan! To start things off, could you tell us a bit about your education history?
A: I did my BSc degree in botany, specialising in microbiology, in UKM Sabah (now UMS). Both my Master’s Degree and PhD, which I did on a part-time basis at USM, were in marine sciences, specifically molluscs (oysters and giant clams respectively).
Research was quite different back in the day, when we had the financial means (and fewer students) to go down to the ground frequently for sampling. Of course, it was not easy as many rural areas could only be accessed via dirt roads and we did not have instruments as sophisticated as those we have today that can give immediate results (we actually needed to preserve samples from the field for future analysis in the lab). I had the opportunity to cover all of Sabah’s rivers for my project, and while it was challenging, being out in the field was great exposure to not only what science can do for the environment, but also for the community.
However, due to limited resources, students nowadays typically have only a single opportunity to go out on the field for sampling throughout the two semesters of their final year. This is often insufficient for the students to generate genuine interest and passion for their research. As lecturers, we think field experience is essential for our marine science students – there are so many ecosystems such as seagrass ecosystems, mangrove ecosystems, coral reefs and mudflats that students have to see for themselves to truly understand. Cost is a major barrier to this, and we are trying to overcome these limitations by creating living laboratories.
Q: What’s a typical day/week like for you?
A: After sending my children to school, I’ll be working! If I’m not in the office, you might be able to find me on sampling trips out in the field with students. Sometimes, I will be travelling around attending conferences or giving talks, or working in the oyster or giant clam hatchery producing oyster/giant clam babies to be supplied to farmers!
Oyster seeds Oyster hatchery
Matured oysters
Q: Are there any particularly memorable projects that you would like to share with us?
A: Through my masters and PhD projects on oysters and giant clams respectively, not only did I manage to produce oysters and giant clams to restock our reefs, I was also able to share my knowledge with the community and give real benefits to others. My work on oyster farming helped create alternative livelihoods for fishermen, while giant clams helped for conservation purposes as they are a keystone species. Malaysia as a country is a biodiversity hotspot, and furthermore, we are located in the coral triangle.
When I started my giant clam project back in 1995, based on historical information there were nine species of giant clam in the world, of which seven species could be found in Malaysia. However, we only had one individual of Tridacna gigas (the largest clam in the world) remaining in our reefs. I studied the life cycle and reproductive cycle of Tridacna gigas as part of my project. Luckily, as giant clams are hermaphrodites (animals/marine organisms that have both male and female gonads within an individual), I was able to retrieve sperm and eggs from this individual, fertilise them externally, and return 900 baby giant clams to our reefs. I am proud to say that the giant clam population in Malaysia is doing well now! Therefore, these projects are, to this day, still very close to my heart.
Professor Tan next to a giant clam
Q: That’s great to hear! How has the oyster farming industry in Malaysia developed since your research was applied in this field? Can you elaborate on the social, economic andr environmental implications of your research on local communities in Malaysia?
A: I started my work on oysters in Penang, but as of now I am collaborating with oyster farmers in six states - Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Johor, and Sabah. My next target is the East Coast, although a major challenge to this is the monsoon season window. Monsoons bring a lot of freshwater into the water systems, which cannot be tolerated by oysters for long periods of time. The plan now is to put in the oysters right after the monsoon season ends and harvest them right before the start of the next monsoon season, although it will be tricky.
Oyster farming is an example of green aquaculture. Unlike prawns and fish, which need to be fed at least three times a day, oysters are filter feeders which can be farmed anywhere as long as the site is clean and rich in phytoplankton. Consequently, the initial investment capital and the commitment required is relatively low. Furthermore, the oysters are cultured in floating cages next to rivers. Mangroves do not need to be cut down for this purpose.
86% of the local demand for oysters is still fulfilled by imports. If we can expand the local oyster industry, our money does not have to flow out of the country (and our impact on the environment can be reduced). The public is still largely unaware of the local oyster farming industry. For food especially, local is best. In the case of oysters, due to the extended transport time, imported oysters will either be in starved conditions or frozen (i.e. dead), whereas local oysters would be much fresher. The general public perception is that imported seafood is safer, especially for oysters as they are consumed raw. However, we do have the necessary technology to cleanse our oysters of bacteria, through a process called depuration. If we