Reproductive Evolution Lab
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CNA feature - Dung beetles on Pulau Ubin

7/2/2022

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*cross-posted from TEE lab*
Our co-supervised PhD student was given the amazing opportunity to share about her research on Pulau Ubin. They even saw an Onthophagus dung beetle rolling dung during the shoot!
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Many thanks to Ms Clara Lee for covering this news piece, and congratulations Xin Rui!
​Watch the video here.

If you'd like to know more about the TEE Lab led by Dr Eleanor Slade, do check out their website here.
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"Introduction to Mosquitos " Workshop

23/12/2020

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Reprolab just held an "Introduction to Mosquitos" workshop this week, kindly organised by our mosquito experts Hui Qing (PhD student) and Tze Xuan (UROPS student). The workshop covered the basics of mosquito research like trapping, identifying, and dissecting different species of mosquito.
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Hui Qing teaching us about how to identify a mosquito
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Prof Cynthia He sampling mosquito larvae from Dillenia leaf litter
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Prof Nalini Puniamoorthy sampling mosquito larvae from Nepenthes pitcher plants
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Huiqing and Yee Ther setting up CDC CO2 trap for trapping adult mosquitos that seek out CO2 to look for bloodmeals
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​Students from Prof He's lab and new incoming students to Reprolab all learning how to identify different species of mosquitoes.
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Everyone sorting out the mosquitos that we obtained from the traps!
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Dr Nalini ​dissecting adult male mosquitos
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Hillary dissecting adult female mosquitos
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Hui Qing showing the dissection process and how to obtain the reproductive tissue and salivary glands
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Theodore and Yee Ther dissecting adult female mosquitos
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Everyone engrossed in the mosquito dissection process!
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A successful 2-day mosquito workshop! Thanks to Hui Qing and Tze Xuan for their hard work in preparing for this!
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Dung Beetle interview

14/5/2019

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Our graduate student Sean was featured on Mothership.sg's video series Human Nature: Saikang warrrior Dung Beetles, where he shared about his research.
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Lab Outing to Citizen Farm

9/2/2018

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We made a trip out to the local Citizen Farm to check out the their operation of organic waste recycling using Black Soldier Flies (BSFs). BSF larvae are voracious eaters and can break down nearly 50-70% of organic material and convert 10-12% of that waste into biomass of protein and fats that can be used for animal feed. In our lab, we're interested in the reproductive traits in these flies and we're keen on learning how to optimize fecundity and fertility to increase efficiency and nutrient cycling.
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Beyond the lab coat

13/10/2017

 
When you tell someone you are a scientist, the image that pops into their mind, is often that of someone working in the laboratory, wearing a white coat and retro safety glasses. And that is not far from the truth for many in the STEM fields.

But for those of us in the natural sciences, there often exists another glamorous component... Fieldwork. In our lab, this often involves travelling to different countries and exploring different kinds of habitats to sample insects. From swampy mangroves and dense forests to urban neighbourhoods, insects can occupy a whole range of niches. We collect insects from different environments and whenever possible, we try to observe what they do in the 'wild'.
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Brian Gress (grad student from previous lab) observing mating flies on a farm in New York, US.
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Dita Vitosa (colleague) collecting mating pairs of flies on a farm in Derbyshire, UK.
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Tiffany Lum (undergrad) capturing mantids along Kent Ridge.
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Driving across the US to collect flies along a east-west transect.
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Sean Yap (grad student) surveying insects along the rail corridor with a vital accessory: an insect sweep net.
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Sean collecting insects from traps in Acadia National Park, US.
One of the main insect models we use in our lab are sepsid flies: a family of flies that are closely associated with dung. Yep... they are poop flies. These flies play a vital role in breaking down organic waste and in nutrient cycling. Plus, they have really cool morphology and mating behavior (https://www.youtube.com/user/sepsidbehavior2009). Dr. P started working on them as an undergraduate and has now spent more than a decade chasing cows and their patties across the world.
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Collecting flies off monkey poop on Barro Colorado Island, Panama.
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Dr. P hanging with a particularly chill cow in New York.
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Collecting flies in middle of Nebraska, US.
Now, you might be wondering, where can you find cow dung in the urban jungle that is Singapore. Well, it turns out, the Zoo. Since 2006, the kind folk working at the Singapore Night Safari have been collaborating with the Evolution Lab at NUS in providing different kinds of animal dung to be used for research purposes. Now, we at the ReproLab, have joined the band wagon.
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Providers of the substrate we need.
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The dung we collect needs to be frozen at -80C prior to experimental use. So here's 'packaging' the dung with members of the EvoLab.

    Lab ​News 

    16.03.23
    BL5313 graduate students on BSF territory
    10.03.23
    Night cycling + Dinner@Dr. P's
    09.03.23
    NTU CCA IdeasFest 2023 
    19.12.22
    BSGC 2022
    04.10.22
    SFIAR Master's Thesis Award 2022
    27.09.22
    ENTO22 Plenary Speaker - Dr. P 
    09.09.22
    HELLO DR. SEAN YAP
    25.08.22
    Black Soldier Flies take the stage again
    15.08.22
    Semester has started!
    ​
    28.07.22
    #Throwback Thursday: Rail Corridor
    27.07.22
    Huiqing, DBS's Best Graduate Researcher 2022​
    19.07.22

    Pasir Ris Park outing
    14.06.22
    HerWorld interview with Dr. P!
    26.04.22
    Huiqing's surprise birthday celebration
    ​04.04.22
    DBS Graduate video feature
    03.03.22
    Ethiroli Interview (Tamil w Eng Subs)
    14.02.22
    Valentine's Day: Bug edition
    11.02.22

    What's coming up for Reprolab?
    11.02.22
    Sustainable Singapore podcast
    07.02.22
    CNA Feature - Dung Beetles on Pulau Ubin 
    26.01.22
    The Straits Times BSF Interview
    05.08.21
    Mozzies featured on NUS Science research news
    ​
    26.07.21
    BSFs featured in CNA Docu-series on closing the loop for waste
    09.07.21
    More coming your way
    ​16.4.21
    Coming your way this July 
    ​01.01.21
    ​It's 2021!
    ​23.12.20
    "​Introduction To Mosquitos" workshop
    ​19.11.20
    Lab Meeting Bloopers
    26.10.20
    The Straits Times Halloween Interview
    16.09.20
    Open data science training - Finished!
    26.06.20
    PhD opportunity: Food waste management Using Black Soldier Flies​
    27.05.20
    NTU's EOS-ASE Seminar​
    13.05.20

    #SGStem Talk
    ​
    16.11.19
    BSF Sharing Session @Tampines
    09.10.19
    Job Opportunity 2019
    30.09.19
    Beetle's Channel 8 Interview
    13.09.19
    Happy Birthday Dr. P!
    04.09.19
    Farewell Hillary...
    08.08.19
    CNA Live Interview
    06.08.19
    Wild City Interview
    30.05.19
    Sending Qian Hui off at the airport
    22.05.19
    ​Qian Hui's Tear-jerking Farewell Video
    14.05.19
    Dung Beetle Interview​​
    05.04.19​
    Job Opportunity 2019​​
    19.03.19​

    The Beetles
    18.02.19​
    Job Opportunities 2019
    18.02.19​
    Lunar New Year 2019
    23.01.18​
    Farewell, Denise...
    11.12.18​

    Post-Exam Retreat
    06.11.18​
    First Batch of UROPS Students
    11.05.18
    Lunch@ Dr. P's
    10.05.18
    Minimizing waste
    03.05.18
    Interview on plastic waste in Singapore
    27.04.18
    Mandarin radio interview
    26.04.18
    Labour day interview
    24.03.18
    ChannelNewsAsia
    16.03.18
    Straits Times article
    27.02.18
    Windsor Nature Walk
    15.02.18
    CNY Celebrations
    09.02.18
    Outing to Citizen Farm
    24.1.18
    Science Cafe SG
    1.11.17
    Careers in Conservation
    17.10.17
    STEM talk at BPPS
    13.10.17
    Beyond the lab coat
    21.09.17
    Job: RA for Repro Lab
    04.09.17
    Reunion at BoS
    26.08.17
    Insect love at SSC
    27.06.17
    STEM talk at TGPS

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Contact us

Reproductive evolution lab

Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
16 Science Drive 4
Block S3 Level 4
Singapore 117558 
Tel: +65 65167836 (Lab office)
       +65 65163486 (Insectary)
Email: reprolabnus@gmail.com

​ © Nalini Puniamoorthy 2023
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Image credit: Jayanthi Puniamoorthy
  • Home
  • Research
    • Reproduction and recycling
    • Reproduction and disease transmission
    • Sexual Size Dimorphism
    • Polyandry and Sperm competition
    • Incipient speciation
    • Condition Dependence
    • Reproductive endosymbionts
    • Pre vs Post
  • People
  • Publications
  • News
  • Join Us