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Dr. Gretchen Coffman

National University of Singapore
Department of Geography
1 Arts Link, #03-01 Block AS2, Singapore 117570

email: geogcc@nus.edu.sg

Twitter: @GenRestoreSG

View our adventures on Instagram

generationrestorationsg

Restoration and Conservation

🐘🌿 Four river cruises. Four unforgettable encounte

🐘🌿 Four river cruises. Four unforgettable encounters. Four chances to witness the magic of Borneo's wildlife. 💚✨

Along the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo 🇲🇾🌴, we were incredibly lucky to encounter Bornean pygmy elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) 🐘 on all four of our boat rides! What an extraordinary privilege in one of the world's most important wildlife corridors.

But the elephants were only the beginning! 😍

During our time on the river, we saw wild orangutans 🦧, proboscis monkeys 🐒, red and silvered langurs 🌿, countless macaques 🙈, crocodiles over 2 meters long 🐊, and an incredible SIX species of hornbills 🦜 soaring above the rainforest canopy. Every boat ride felt like a scene from a wildlife documentary. 🎥📸

What made these encounters even more meaningful was understanding why we were seeing so much wildlife. 💭🌱
For over 30 years, community organisations we worked with like the KOPEL Community Cooperative 🤝🏽 and APE Malaysia 🌳 have worked tirelessly to restore forests, reconnect wildlife habitats, and create ecological corridors along the Kinabatangan. Their community-led conservation efforts are helping wildlife thrive in one of Sabah's most fragmented landscapes. 🌏💚

Seeing elephants, orangutans, hornbills, monkeys, and crocodiles flourishing in a restored landscapes gives us hope that conservation works. 🌱✨ Habitat restoration is not just tree planting! We were there with the NUS GEN2007 Resilience in Restoration field course to help build capacity for rebuilding sustainable ecosystems and community livelihoods to support creating a future where both wildlife and communities can thrive together. 🐘🦧🦜🐒

We are deeply grateful to the local communities, guides, conservation practitioners, and restoration leaders who have dedicated their lives to protecting this remarkable river. 🙏🏽💚

And here's the best part... 😲🐘

Just HOURS after we left the Tungog Rainforest Eco Camp ⛺️🌿, a herd of Bornean pygmy elephants walked directly through the camp grounds!

It seems the elephants wanted to give us one final reminder that we were guests

Honoured to be speaking at the National University

Honoured to be speaking at the National University of Singapore tomorrow for 🎤🇸🇬

Researcher Unbound+: Coral Reefs, Communities, and Conservation: The Wallace Line and Beyond https://nus.libcal.com/event/5869403
Zoom: https://nus-sg.zoom.us/s/86561652483

From roots to reefs — mangroves, seagrass meadows, and coral communities function as an interconnected coastal system. Across the Wallace Line and into the Coral Triangle, this talk explores how biogeography, ecological connectivity, and emerging mapping technologies inform community-led conservation.

Bringing together science, spatial mapping, and storytelling to support stewardship and long-term reef resilience 🌊

Grateful for the opportunity to share this conservation work and contribute to the dialogue.

#RootsToReefs #WallaceLine #CoralTriangle #MarineEcology #GenerationRestoration

NUS students in Bintan, Indonesia—planting mangrov

NUS students in Bintan, Indonesia—planting mangroves alongside EcoTourism students from Politeknik Bintan Cakrawala, guided by the incredible Ibu Ayu Dewi. We mapped a mangrove restoration site right next to campus… and found the endemic Bintan langurs there! 👀🐒

Beyond the forest, students met the local community—Meldi from Dudem Bee Farm and his stingless bees 🍯🐝, and Laila from the KSBL community coffee plantation ☕🌱

Exploring Bintan’s mangroves with founder of Wild Space Daphne Ong and local guide Ali, we spotted some unforgettable wildlife: mangrove snakes, Rudy kingfishers, and even a baby water monitor soaking up the sun 🐍🦅🦎

Fieldwork, community, conservation—this is immersive environmental geography learning beyond borders

#NUS #MangroveRestoration #Bintan #Conservation #generationrestorationsg

🌿 Filming along the Kinabatangan River in 360° mea

🌿 Filming along the Kinabatangan River in 360° meant slowing down, listening, and learning — from the river, the forests, the wildlife, and the communities who call this place their home.

Working hand in hand with local Sabahans, we learned how community-led habitat restoration supports wildlife while sustaining livelihoods. Conservation here is not something done to a place — it is done with people.

Along the river, mangroves, and tropical forests, we documented life across scales — from charismatic megafauna to the often-overlooked small species that hold ecosystems together:

🐘 Borneo pygmy elephants
🦧 Endemic primates — orangutans & proboscis monkeys
🐻 Sun bears, tarsiers, slow loris
🦋 Flying snakes, illusive frogs, jumping spiders, colorful butterflies

Each encounter reinforced a core lesson of this field course: river and mangrove ecosystems are deeply interconnected social–ecological systems. Protecting them requires immersive methods, ethical storytelling, and community-centred conservation.

But the most important lesson? Conservation must be community-centred, ethical, and immersive. Real impact happens when local knowledge leads and outside support listens.

The future of biodiversity depends on how we choose to tell these stories — and who we choose to tell them with.

This is what learning in the field and authentic community engagement looks like.

#CommunityConservation #Kinabatangan #BorneoEcosystems
#FieldCourse #360Filmmaking #ImmersiveConservation
#SocialEcologicalSystems #GenerationRestoration

🌊 The Ocean Collective Summit 2025 🌊 Innovative De

🌊 The Ocean Collective Summit 2025 🌊
Innovative Design Thinking Workshop | Reimagine Island Futures with Fabien Cousteau

Grateful to be part of an inspiring, hands-on, interdisciplinary workshop empowering changemakers to tackle urgent ocean challenges through human-centred design thinking 🌍💡

We walked through empathy, ideation, and prototyping to explore creative, practical, and sustainable solutions for our oceans — guided by Fabien Cousteau, founder of the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Centre. 🌊✨

💚 Our Green Group explored community stewardship of marine ecosystems — proposing 360° storytelling for engagement and education. Thanks for the inspirational constructive feedback Fabien on our use of 360 conservation communication and 3D coral reef visualisation!

🌴Team 360’s Vision:
“Pulau Oshen thrives as a model island community where fisherfolk, youth, and leaders work hand-in-hand to restore and protect the sea. By blending tradition with innovation, they create sustainable livelihoods, safeguard biodiversity, and nurture a culture of stewardship that inspires the world.” 🌏💫

🙏 Huge thanks to @SeaKeepers and Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Centre for sponsoring and leading this inspiring event — turning ‘What If’ into ‘What’s Next’! 💙

#OceanCollectiveSummit2025 #FabienCousteau #SeaKeepers #GenerationRestoration #MarineConservation #OceanInnovation #DesignThinking #CommunityStewardship #360Storytelling #ConservationCommunication #CoralReefRestoration #BluePlanet

🌏✨ From Bali’s coral reefs to Lombok’s mangroves —

🌏✨ From Bali’s coral reefs to Lombok’s mangroves — we’re pushing the boundaries of conservation science with 3D LiDAR mapping! 🚀💡

Thanks to our August expedition with YellowScan and James Cook University, we’re documenting reef restoration with Livingseas and unlocking new ways to monitor Marine Protected Areas. 🌊🌱

Teamwork makes the dream work! 🙌

#LiDAR #3DMapping #MarineConservation #CoralReefRestoration #MangroveConservation #LivingSeasfoundation #YellowScan #JamesCookUniversity #InnovationInScience #GreenLiDAR

🌊⚓️ 6 days. 22 dives. Just what the doctor ordered

🌊⚓️ 6 days. 22 dives. Just what the doctor ordered for my summer exploration and discovery immersive Coral Triangle experience sailing!!!
Exploring Komodo National Park by land + sea aboard the majestic and authentic Indonesia sailing vessel Eliya with @scubajunkiesliveaboards 🐉🇮🇩

✨ Highlights from under + above the waves:
• Thrilling drift dives in crazy current + insane biodiversity at: Castle Rock, Cauldron/Slingshot, Siaba Besar, Manta Point, Golden Passage, Lighthouse, Batu Bolong, Shotgun, Tatawa Besar, Crystal Rock, Siaba Kecil… and so many more 🐠💫
• SUP + snorkeling every day through mangroves 🌱
• Filming in 360° with my new X5 cam — colours still blow me away at 20m+ 🎥🌈

🤿 Couldn’t have done it without my amazing dive buddy Maria, our fantastic dive guide Kaleb, and of course a huge thank you to expedition leader Max + his incredible crew. The food = delicious every day 🍜✨, the accommodations = extremely cozy-comfortable 🛏️, and the boat itself… I’m in love with the high biodiversity 💙⛵️ on this immersive experience. This gives me hope for our coral reef restoration around the Coral Triangle! Can't wait to dive back in!

#KomodoNationalPark #LiveaboardLife #ScubaJunkie #DiveKomodo #GenerationRestoration #MantaPoint #CastleRock #Underwater360

🌾 Farms, Flows & Fertilisers 🌿 One of many incredi

🌾 Farms, Flows & Fertilisers 🌿
One of many incredible student-led research projects during our NUS Geography field course in Northern Thailand!

This group of 10 chose to investigate how irrigation and fertiliser practices shape water quality along the Mae Tang Min River—collecting data across rice paddies, cornfields, longan orchards, and even a forest stream. 💧🌽🍈🌳

Armed with pH meters, drones, GPS, and 360° cameras, they built a compelling case for how agriculture alters soil and water chemistry—while learning to communicate science through maps, infographics, and film. 🎥🛰️

They were just one of several student teams! Other groups explored ethnic cultures, religion, and agricultural shifts to tea and coffee in the Golden Triangle, among many other themes. 🛕☕🌱

Northern Thailand became our classroom. Curiosity was our guide.
#NUSGeography #FieldStudies #MaeTangMinRiver #GenerationRestoration #GeographyFieldwork #StudentResearch #DroneDeploy #360filmmaking #ScienceCommunication #ThailandFieldCourse #SustainableFarming #GoldenTriangle #GeoSkills #RiceToRivers #ConservationTech

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