What is Isa up to in Indonesia?

This year I’m in Indonesia as a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellow documenting and exploring insect biodiversity in the understudied peat swamp forest!
I’m sharing the journey on both my Instagram and National Geographic Field Notes blog.
Bornean Bug Biodiversity: https://fieldnotes.nationalgeographic.org/expedition/borneanbuglife

Selfie with the National Geographic Society flag and an orangutan nest. For my project, I am visiting an orangutan nest to see what insects use the nest as a home after the orangutans leave..

Out of Diapause, taking flight! 🦋

Moth pupa in diapause.

Okay, for the non entomologists, I realize the title might need some explanation...
What is diapause? It is the insect version of hibernation in mammals. When conditions are unfavorable, insects may go through a period of suspended development called diapause. This is what insects do in the winter. They go through diapause. Grasshopper diapause as eggs, some butterflies diapause as young caterpillars, wild silk moths diapause as pupa, and tortoise beetles diapause as adults in the leaf litter and top soil. Anyway, as you maybe have picked up at this point, this blog is coming out of diapause! I am reviving it with this post. It is eclosing (fancy entomology term for exiting out of pupal form) and taking flight!

My camera at the ready. Photo by Rumaan Malhotra

Alright, with that explanation out of the way, hello!
👋🏼My name is Isabelle Betancourt or Isa (pronounced Eesa) for short. That is me in the photo to the right with my camera by the Rocky Mountains.
You may already know me from my previous blog posts, social media, livestream, or maybe we have even met in person! On the flip-side, you may have no clue who I am until this very post. So, welcome! Check my About page if you’d like, or it may suffice to say that I am an entomologist and photographer that has worked in an entomology collection for 8 years and lived for 6 months in Borneo. I studied Entomology at Cornell University and Communication at Drexel University. In addition to getting lost in the world of insects, I really love to surf, play soccer, and play ukulele.

The big news and motivation for reviving the blog is that I’m going back to Indonesian Borneo this upcoming year (🤞🙏May COVID cases get under control around the globe.). I’m going to share the journey here. While I was in Borneo for the first time as an orangutan research field assistant in 2015, I am returning as a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellow with an entomological project. I will document the largely uncharted insect biodiversity in the peat swamp forests of the Tuanan Orangutan Research Project’ biological station in Central Kalimantan and study how the insect communities are affected by forest fires, water drainage, and hydrologic restoration. It will be the journey of a lifetime! And I am hopeful that the other-side of the project will be filled with fascinating findings that further our knowledge and appreciation for our planet, and also filled with fruitful and continued collaboration with colleagues at my partner university, Universitas National.

Stay tuned! ~ Future blog posts will touch upon:

• Why am I going half way around the world to study insects in Indonensian Borneo?

• What I am doing to prepare for my trip?

• What’s in my camera bag and what’s on my wishlist? (every photographer has a wishlist!)
  

What do you want me to write about? Drop topic requests in the comments.
🦋

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Materials for Spreading a Moth or Butterfly for Preservation