Harrison Institute

Director’s Report
December, 2011 – December, 2012.
Overview
Scientifically, this has been a good year for the Harrison Institute. We are working successfully with colleagues in
Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Africa and our palaeontological researches have produced a series of
interesting results for the UK as well as a putative new taxon from Thailand.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR INCLUDE:
Research and training - international
Training and co-supervision of ten MSc and PhD students from Bhutan (x2), Cambodia (x1), Ghana (x1),
Lao PDR (x2), Thailand (x3) and Zambia (x1)
Co-hosting a training workshop on bat acoustics with delegates from India, Lao PDR, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, and UK which took place in Tamil Nadu, India in April, 2012
Co-hosting the first ‘International Ornithological Congress of Southeast Asia’, which took place in
Thailand (November, 2012)
Publication of thirteen papers on aspects of mammals (x11), birds (x1) and amphibians (x1)
Presentations on mammals and birds at meetings, workshops and/or international conferences in India,
South Africa, Thailand, UK, and Zambia
Participation in a new initiative to support amphibian research in Thailand and Bhutan
Staff participation in three training workshops in India and Thailand
Participation in SEABCRU’s (Southeast Asian Bat Conservation and Research Unit) workshop, which
took place in Thailand in July, 2012
Expansion of the Institute’s digital library with 2960 pdfs presented on USB sticks to young student
researchers from Africa and Asia
Expansion of the Institute’s Afro-Asian Taxonomic Network with 185 members from 51 countries -
http://www.harrison-institute.org/afro_asian/network_members.html
Research and Outreach UK
Palaeontological research at two UK Eocene sites
Introducing a new generation of young UK school children and students to biodiversity research
Financial and administration
Awards
Purchase and the letting of a two bedroom flat adjacent to Sevenoaks Railway Station – to diversify the
Institute’s investment portfolio
Paul Bates awarded an honorary doctorate by Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
In the UK the field-based component of our work is primarily concerned with the study of the Tertiary fossil faunas of
Ferry Cliff in Suffolk and Creechbarrow in Dorset. This research is led by David Harrison and supported by Malcolm
Pearch and David Ward (Institute Trustee). Outputs for the year include the discovery of a series of little known
mammalian taxa from the middle Eocene (41.0 million years before present) of Creechbarrow, the results of which are
summarised in a paper published in Cainozoic Research (for details see below).
In addition, Malcolm Pearch, in conjunction with David Harrison and colleagues in Thailand, has led a project
reviewing the fossil fauna of a late middle Pleistocene (213,000 years before present) fossil site, Khao Kao Cave in
Songkhla Province, southern Thailand. This rich cave sediment has yielded numerous fossils of rodents, bats, tree
shrews and shrews. A paper summarising palaeontological research of Tertiary and Quaternary mammals in Thailand,
together with a review of aspects of the Khao Kao Cave fauna is being prepared for Cainozoic Research.
Work at the Institute has been greatly supported by volunteers most notably Michael Rayner who has assisted with
specimen preparation and Andrew Ward who worked for four weeks on re-curating the spirit collection. Most
recently, two students, Jasmine O’Callaghan and Imogen Cox from Combe Bank School have been assisting with
curation of the wet and dry collections as part of their Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award scheme. All this work has
been supervised by Institute curator Malcolm Pearch.
2