Curtin geology students learn while making tomorrow better
MIRI: A group of 34 individuals comprising Curtin University Malaysia staff and its Bachelor of Science in Applied Geology second-year students are living up to the university’s motto ‘Make Tomorrow Better’ during their recent week-long field survey on Labuan Island.
Associate Professor Dominique Dodge-Wan, who coordinated the trip, initiated a beach cleaning programme upon noticing an increase in the level of plastic pollution in the area surveyed.
The group collected plastic waste from the beaches for recycling, receiving the support from the Palm Beach Resort and Spa where they were staying.
The resort’s operations manager Amran Jaafar arranged for all the collected plastic waste to be sent to a recycling centre in Labuan.
“It is a small gesture that I hope we could repeat in coming years in line with the university’s motto, ‘ Make Tomorrow Better’ – that is to encourage our students to be aware of the issues faced by coastal communities and to become part of the solution, not part of the problem,” said DodgeWan.
According to her, the bulk of the waste collected consisted of plastic drink bottles. For the record, all the drink bottles used by the group during their oneweek stay were also collected for recycling.
Dodge-Wan also noted that Labuan Island is very popular with tourists, and the resort plays its part by actively clearing the beach fronting its property. The area covered by the Curtin geology survey is, however, less visited; yet, it is heavily polluted – as such, the clean-up was focused there.
Over the past few years, staff members of the Department of Applied Geology have been bringing students to the island for field studies due to its interesting and well exposed, almost-continuous rock sequences that form cliffs along the northern beaches of Labuan.
Dodge-Wan had previously conducted survey on beach waste in this region, and was a guest speaker at the 2017 World Ocean Day event here – aimed at drawing public attention to the pressing issue of beach pollution caused by plastic items.