"Caving In Sarawak" Talk

Lecture Tittle: "Caving In Sarawak" Venue: Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus (Dewan Kuliah Pusat 2A) Date: 12th July 2012 Time: 7.30-8.30 PM Speakers: Mr Oswald Braken Tisen and Mr Rambli Ahmad Speakers’ Profiles: 1) Mr Oswald Braken Tisen Acting Deputy General Manager, Protected Areas and Biodiversity Conservation Division of Sarawak Forestry (SFC) Background Masters of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, Lincoln University, New Zealand, 2004. B Sc. (Forestry), Universiti Pertanian, Malaysia, 1984. Forestry Training Programme (parks and recreation management) Miyoshi, Hiroshima, Japan (June to September 1996). Member of the Institute of Foresters Malaysia. Mr Oswald Braken Tisen will be talking about Karst and Cave in Sarawak, a broad topic covering karst and caves in Sarawak and the fun of caving in these areas. He will show many photographs from his more than 25 years of caving throughout Sarawak. 2) Mr Rambli Ahmad Geologist / Ecologist with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation. Background Bachelor of Science in Geology and Geophysics University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1985. Started caving in 1990’s – participated in Sarawak-British Caving Expedition (1996, 2000, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012). “I train people how to guides in the cave and about karst features. I also train people to use SRT or single rope technique to climb or descend to get into difficult areas of the caves. I enjoy cave photography which everyone can do with ease with today’s camera and lights. My talk will be on the expedition to Mulu Caves over the last 16 years and show the audience some photos never shown to the public. I will relate my experience working underground, staying in the caves for nights and work for maximum of 18 hours at a stretch. It is about exploring new frontier, stepping into places no one have been before and looking at amazing features. It is also about how I train myself to be able to work at par with a more experience team.” The talk will also try to convince the audience why we need to preserve the karsts landscape and the caves.