Indonesian Research, or: How I Learned to Love the Spleen

The last time I wrote before disappearing, I was still on the hunt for a PhD position. Through lots of e-mails, calls, and the attitude that it's not harassment if you do it with a smile, I managed to secure a PhD position with Eske Willerslev, one of the world's leading human population geneticists.

He sometimes wears this outfit to group meetings 

So, I packed up my warmest clothes (I kind of forgot how to do this whole 'cold weather' thing) and moved to Copenhagen to work at the Centre for Genetics. His specialty is ancient DNA, so naturally my primary project involves ancient humans. I was given 8,000 year old samples from very far north Siberia, and, after a 2+ year hiatius from labwork, I was put into a space-suit and told to extract some ancient Siberian DNA.

Who says science can't be sexy?

My poor lab-mentor wasted many hours of his precious time answering my terribly ignorant questions, but somehow at the end of a few months I managed to at least appear to know what I was doing. 

By that point, quite sick of the short, cold, Danish winter days, I managed to invite myself along on a colleague's trip to Thailand where my work included hours of diving in beautiful Thai waters to collect coral...ahem... ejacula. 

From this....

To this...

The project depended on collecting coral eggs and sperm during a mass spawning, which meant lots of night diving in order to place and then collect what we affectionately called coral 'condoms'.

Coral reproduction is actually quite beautiful

While in Thailand, I had the good fortune of speaking with a researcher who told me about a population of so-called "Sea Gypsies" found in Thailand called the Moken. They're also referred to as "Sea Nomads" because for possibly thousands of years they have been living a largely nomadic, marine dependent existence, traditionally spending nearly their entire lives on houseboats. They have an intimate relationship with the sea, free-diving from such a young age that many children learn to swim before they learn to walk. Anthropologically they are incredibly interesting: their lifestyle has effects on their ideas of permanence and time. Evolutionarily, they piqued my interest immediately. Most subsist entirely on food they have collect through free diving, and they are exceptionally good at it. Perhaps, I thought, there might be something physiologically, evolutionarily special about these people that makes them such good divers. Motivated by that (and mayyyyybe the desire to return to beautiful sunny places), I decided to investigate further.

Sunsets like these may or may not have affected my decision making...

When I returned to Denmark, I couldn't stop reading about these people and their lifestyle. The Moken are just one population of Sea Nomads, others include the Urak Lawoi (also in Thailand), the Orang Suku Laut (living mostly near Singapore), and the Orang Bajau (spread throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines). I began contacting everyone I could find who knew anything about these populations, and happened upon a lady in Indonesia who offered to introduce me to a Bajau population in Sulawesi. 

Because my boss is the best, I nervously pitched him the idea, and he quickly said, "Ok, go!" And so I was off to Indonesia. Over the next three trips, I met some of the most wonderful, kind, generous, and welcoming people I have ever encountered. There are not many places where you can show up at the home of the village chief, at 10pm, a complete stranger, unannounced, and be welcomed to stay as long as you'd like. Over the trips, I became proficient in conversational Indonesian (this continues to be my excuse for not yet learning any Danish) and was 'adopted' by the chief and his wife, from whom I learned some of my most important Indonesian vocabulary (Makan! = Eat!, Enak!=delicious,Pedis!="this is far too spicy for your delicate western mouth, don't eat it unless you want to turn red, sweat profusely, and try not to weep for the next twenty minutes")

They fed me, took care of me when I got sick from accidentally drinking the wrong water (big woops!), opened their hearts, and showed me endless love. 

With my 'Mama Angkat', my adoptive Indonesian Mom

Although about half of my trip was basically socializing (it is very important to build social bonds before you ask someone to spit their DNA into a tube and let you ultrasound their organs), there was some actual science involved. I won't get into the details, but there is a chance that the Bajau have big spleens, which (betcha didn't know this! I certainly didn't) can possibly help you dive for longer and recover more quickly between dives. So, I bought a portable ultrasound machine and spent a few weeks studying medical youtube videos, reading articles, and practicing on my wonderful friends and colleagues. Everyone I knew became a potential victim... I even measured the spleens of my flatmate's unsuspecting out of town visitors (earning one the nickname "Big-Spleen Ben"). Armed with this new skill, I lugged the strange machine to my teeny-tiny Indonesian village and went around asking strangers to let me look at their spleens (I have cultivated a very unusual Indonesian vocabulary... "Limpa besar!"="Big spleen!").

I attracted a bit of attention 

All in I took over 500 images of spleens, and got to experience showing over a dozen expectant mothers their baby's heartbeat for the first time (they are a very fertile people). Hopefully I will have more conclusive results on the research soon, so stay tuned for that... 

Of course I managed to squeeze in a few motorcycle rides

Indonesia is a fascinating place. It is home to hundreds of unique ethnic groups and languages as well as a multitude of religions, all geographically and culturally mixed and coexisting throughout the archipelago of 17,500 islands. The Bajau nearly always exist somewhere on the fringe of this, being traditionally nomadic. Modern populations have become more settled, adapting to the local cultures, however they still exist somewhat outside "mainstream Indonesia". They are often perceived as impoverished, mysterious, and dangerous. Many are suspicious of their "magical powers", I was warned more than once to stay far away from their powerful potions. On my third trip, a top University official told me, "It's very nice that you've come to Indonesia to do your research. But I don't know why you would research the Bajau, they are not good people." In some way I'm hoping that my research can help to change this perception, to show Indonesia and the world what I saw; a beautiful, kind, extremely special people who are struggling to survive in a world where their entire existence is threatened by (overpopulation-driven) overfishing. 

I came home from Indonesia with an akar bahar (black coral) bracelet to keep me healthy and protect me from black magic, as well as a home made spear gun, both given to me by my amazing Bajau friends. But more than that, I came home with a new family, enough memories to last a lifetime, and an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the life-changing experience.