Personal email: clements@alumni.nus.edu.sg
Work email: rclements@wwf.org.my
Nationality: Singapore citizen
EDUCATION
2004-2007: M.Sc. (Biology). National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Supervisors: Prof. Navjot Sodhi and Prof. Peter Ng Kee Lin.
2000-2004: B.Sc. (Biology) with 2nd Upper Class Honours. National University of Singapore, Singapore.
CURRENT POSITION
2007 – Species Conservation Manager (Associate Fellow), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – Malaysia: Managing the Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris) and Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) projects in Peninsular Malaysia, with involvement in proposal formulation, capacity building, scientific writing, and technical supervision of up to 23 project staff to implement activities relating to large mammal monitoring, anti-poaching, identification of ecological linkages, human-wildlife conflict mitigation and community engagement.
PUBLICATIONS
Clements, R., Mark Rayan, D., Ahmad Zafir, A. W., Venkataraman, A., Alfred, R., Payne, J., Ambu, L. and Sharma, D. S. K. 2010. Trio under threat: can we secure the future of rhinos, elephants and tigers in Malaysia? BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION. (accepted)
Sodhi, N., Koh, L. P., Clements, R., Wanger, T. C., Hill, J. K., Clough, Y., Tscharntke, T., Posa, M. R. C. and Lee, T. M. Conserving Southeast Asian forest biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION.(accepted)
Clements, R., Foo, R., Othman, S., Rahman, U., Syed Mustafa, S. R., and Zulkifli, R. 2009. Islam, turtle conservation and coastal communities. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 23: 516-517.
Clements, R., Lu, X. X., Ambu, S., Schilthuizen, M., and Bradshaw, C. 2008. Using biogeographical patterns of endemic land snails to improve conservation planning for limestone karsts. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 141: 2751-2764.
Vermeulen, J. J. and Clements, R. 2008. Another twist in the tale: a new species of Opisthostoma (Gastropoda, Diplommatinidae) from Peninsular Malaysia. BASTERIA 72: 263-268.
Tan, S. K. and Clements, R. 2008. Taxonomy and distribution of the Neritidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in Singapore. ZOOLOGICAL STUDIES 47: 481-494.
Liew, T.-S., Clements, R. and Schilthuizen, M. 2008. Sampling micromolluscs in tropical forests: one size does not fit all. ZOOSYMPOSIA 1: 271-280.
Schilthuizen, M. and Clements, R. 2008. Tracking land snail extinctions from space. TENTACLE 16: 8-9 (IUCN/SSC Mollusc Specialist Group Newsletter).
Clements, R., Liew, T.-S., Vermeulen, J. J and Schilthuizen, M. 2008. Further twists in gastropod shell evolution. BIOLOGY LETTERS 4: 179-182.
Clements, R. and Posa, M. R. C. 2007. Conservationists could slip up in oil-palm enterprise. NATURE 449: 443.
Clements, R., Bickford, D., and Lohman, D. 2007. Can YouTube save the planet? THE SCIENTIST 21: 26.
Clements, R., Sodhi, N. S., Ng, P. K. L., and Schilthuizen, M. 2006. Limestone karsts of Southeast Asia: imperiled arks of biodiversity. BIOSCIENCE 56: 733-742 (Cover article).
Clements, R., Koh, L. P., Lee, T. M., Meier, R., and Li, D. 2006. Importance of reservoirs for the conservation of freshwater molluscs in a tropical urban landscape. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 128: 136-146.
Clements, R. 2006. Oophana tiomanensis, a new streptaxid (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Streptaxidae) from Pulau Tioman, Peninsular Malaysia. RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 54: 125-127.
Clements, R. and Li, D. 2005. Regulation and non-toxicity of the spit from the pale spitting spider Scytodes pallida (Araneae: Scytotidae). ETHOLOGY 111: 311-321.
SCIENTIFIC MEDIA COVERAGE
· Bizarre twists. THE STAR. 23 June 2009.
· Big deal over a small snail. NEW STRAITS TIMES. 19 June 2009.
· Photos: top 10 new species discovered in 2008. MONGABAY.COM. 22 May 2009.
· Scientists parade top 10 new species. CNN.COM. 22 May 2009.
· A twist in the tale. NATURE 451: 226-227.
· Snail shell takes a weird turn. NATURE NEWS. 8 January 2008.
· Shell of new species of land snail coils its own way. THE NEW YORK TIMES. 15 January 2008.
· NUS student finds new animal species. THE STRAITS TIMES. 4 September 2006.
· Animal-rich limestone towers face rocky future in Asia. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NEWS. 12 September 2006.
PERSONAL MEDIA COVERAGE
· Saving the last megafauna of Malaysia. MONGABAY.COM. 15 September 2009.
· 50 men we really love. HER WORLD, SINGAPORE. June 2009.
· Doomed to extinction. MARIE CLAIRE, MALAYSIA. April 2009.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS/AFFLIATIONS
· IUCN/SSC Mollusc Specialist Group
· IUCN Cave and Karst Task Force
· Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers
· Malaysian Karst Society
· Malaysian Nature Society
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
· Reviewer for the journal ANIMAL CONSERVATION
· Reviewer for the journal BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
· Reviewer for the journal BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
· Reviewer for the JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
· Reviewer for the JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE
· Reviewer for IUCN UNESCO World Heritage nominations
· Reviewer for IUCN Karst Thematic Reviews
· Working Group member of Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers
· Technical advisor for Malaysian Karst Society
· Focal Point for Malaysia in WWF Tiger Network Initiative
AWARDS/GRANTS
· 2009: Top 10 New Species Finalist – International Institute for Species Exploration, University of Arizona.
· 2008: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Assistance Award.
· 2006-2007: Unitas Malacologica Student Research Award and Travel Award.
· 2005-2007: Wildlife Conservation Singapore Fund Award.
· 2004-2007: National University of Singapore Research Scholarship and Travel Award.
FELLOWSHIP
2006: Program ‘Merlion’ Égide, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (Professor Phillippe Bouchet).
INVITED SEMINARS/TALKS
2009: National University of Singapore (Singapore); Monash University (Malaysia); WWF-Singapore (Singapore); Singapore Botanic Gardens, National Parks Board (Singapore)
2008: National University of Singapore (Singapore); Singapore Zoological Gardens, Singapore; WWF-Malaysia, Sabah Office (Malaysia); Kinabalu National Park Headquarters (Malaysia); Universiti Malaysia Sabah (Malaysia); Monash University (Malaysia).
2007: Singapore Zoological Gardens (Singapore); National Museum of Natural History – Naturalis (The Netherlands); National University of Singapore (Singapore).
CONFERENCES
2009: Oral (Invited) – “How is Southeast Asian biodiversity coping in human-dominated landscapes?”, Southeast Asia Symposium, JOINT MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR TROPICAL ECOLOGY & ASSOCIATION OF TROPICAL BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, Modified forest ecosystems symposium, Marburg, Germany.
2009: Oral (Invited) – “Trio under threat: is there hope for rhinos, elephants and tigers in Malaysia?”, Southeast Asia Symposium, 23rd ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Beijing, China.
2007: Oral – “Sampling molluscs on tropical limestone karsts – high sampling efficiencies and novel biogeographical patterns”. 16th WORLD CONGRESS OF MALACOLOGY, Antwerp, Belgium.
2006: Poster – “Limestone karsts of Southeast Asia: imperiled arks of biodiversity”. 15th ANNUAL PHILIPPINE BIODIVERSITY SYMPOSIUM, Palawan, Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines, Palawan, Philippines.
2005: Oral – “Importance of reservoirs for the conservation of freshwater molluscs in a tropical urban landscape”. 10th BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES GRADUATE CONGRESS, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
2002: Poster – “Activity patterns of captive Oriental small-clawed otters (Amblonyx cinereus)”. Joint Southeast Asian Zoos Association – Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria Conference, Singapore.
CONSULTANCY EXPERIENCE
2007: Research Assistant, NUS – Biodiversity assessment of Warren Golf Course, NUS (Taxa: birds, butterflies, herptiles and small mammals).
2007: Research Assistant, NUS & DHI Water & Environment (S) Pte Ltd – Biodiversity assessment of islands off Singapore, for Sentosa Development Corporation (Taxa: birds, butterflies and small mammals).
2007: Research Assistant, NUS – Broad-based biodiversity assessment of reservoirs in Singapore for Public Utilities Board (Taxa: molluscs).
2003: Research Assistant, NUS – Rapid biodiversity assessment in the estuaries of Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon, Singapore for Housing Development Board (Taxa: intertidal organisms).
