Indonesia, which is a tropical country, has many types of highly venomous snakes. Research on the diversity of types of reptiles and community service regarding the management of reptiles, especially snakes, have been carried out by many teaching staff or lecturers at the Faculty of Biology UGM. One of lecturers that actively carried out this research is Donan Satria Yudha, M.Sc., from the Animal Systematics Laboratory.

Donan has played an active role in the field of snake wildlife study and management since 2011 until now. Some of Donan’s activity in the study and control of snakes are: assisting the Yogyakarta BKSDA in assessing the diversity of reptiles in conservation areas, assisting the Gianyar Regency Government in inventorying wild animals including snakes, assisting reptile-loving communities by becoming their resource persons and coaches, providing snake handling training to Firefighters Sleman and UGM fires, helping Dr. dr. Tri Maharani, Sp.EM, M.Sc., in identifying venomous snakes that bite humans, providing knowledge and handling of snakes in the PLN substation environment, as well as many other community service activities.

Thanks to Donan’s research and dedication activities related to reptiles, especially snakes, in February 2022, Donan was asked to join the Team for the Study, Prevention and Control of Diseases Due to Poisonous Animals and Poisonous Plants, which was initiated by dr. Tri Maharani. This team was formed with various members, starting from emergency doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, health service units, Mr Amir Hamidy a herpetofauna researcher from BRIN and Donan Satria Yudha from Biology UGM.

The Assessment, Prevention and Control of Diseases Due to Poisonous Animals and Poisonous Plants Team was inaugurated by the Minister of Health, Mr. Budi Gunadi Sadikin. The inauguration of the team was manifested in the form of a letter: “Decree of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, No: HK.01.07/MENKES/1114/2022 concerning the Team for the Assessment, Prevention and Control of Diseases Due to Poisonous Animals and Poisonous Plants, dated 11 April 2022”. In this decree, this team worked for three years from the date stipulated. The Minister of Health’s decree made Donan challenged and ready to help deal with and prevent venomous animals. One of the activities of this team is to produce a guidebook on “Guidelines for Handling Bites, Poisonous Animal Stings and Plant Poisoning” which is currently still in the process of completing the book contents.

Wednesday, 8 February to 9 Thursday 2023 the Faculty of Biology UGM held a Mental Health Literacy Training for students. At 7.45 a.m., the opening of the Mental Health Literacy Training for Students was held in Room 1 & 2 Building B, Faculty of Biology UGM. This training was attended by 35 participants consisting of representatives of Study Groups and Student Organizations, and also representatives of several batches of bachelor, master, and doctoral program students.

On this occasion the Dean of the Faculty of Biology UGM, Prof. Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono, M.Agr.Sc., was pleased to give a speech and officially open the event. In his remarks Prof. Budi conveyed the importance of holding activities to increase mental health literacy. “Recently at UGM there have been several cases involving student mental health. Let’s make this training an opportunity to improve mental health for ourselves and help those around us.”

All of the participants received material from speakers which was delivered by a team from the Center for Public Mental Health (CPMH) Faculty of Psychology UGM. The materials presented in the training are:

Day 1:

• Mental Health Stigma and Myths
• Getting Know Mental Health Issues Around Campus (academic burnout, overthinking, procrastination, insecure)
• The Relationship Between Mental Health, Mental Health Problems and Mental Disorders
• Common Mental Disorders and Mental Health Problems

Day 2:

• P3KM (Psychological First Aid and Mental Health) Part 1
• P3KM (Psychological and Mental Health First Aid) Part 2 and Supportive Communication
• Early Detection and Referral Flow
• Develop a Safety Plan
• How to Maintain Positive Mental Health (Personal and Community/System – Prosperous Agencies) and Help Seeking

After 2 days of training, on Thursday 9 February 2023, the Dean of the Faculty of Biology UGM, Prof. Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono, M.Agr.Sc. pleased to provide directions and officially close the series of training activities. On this occasion, the Dean introduced students to the facilities owned by the Faculty of Biology UGM. From the Karanggayam research station to the Sawitsari research station. “We are grateful that these 2 days have really benefited. Let us both feel what is happening around us.” At the end of all training sessions, several questions were also given to the participants and a memento was provided for those who could answer the questions.

Tuesday, 07 February 2023, a Socialization of Library Services was carried out in order to introduce the campus facilities to Faculty of Biology UGM Postgraduate new students. The activity was carried out offline, starting at 09.30-10.00 WIB in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Biology UGM and attended by lecturers and students of the Faculty of Biology Postgraduate Program even batch of 2022/2023. On this occasion the UGM Faculty of Biology Library presented librarian Rusna Nur Aini as a resource person. Before the presentation started, Mrs. Rusna, representing the person in charge of the Library, Drs Ign Sudaryadi, M.Kes, conveyed her welcome and welcome to join the Library to all participants. In her presentation, she gave a glimpse of the library staff, location and service time of the UGM Faculty of Biology Library.

Then a profile video of the UGM Faculty of Biology Library was shown, which can also be accessed via the UGM Faculty of Biology Knowledge Channel YouTube. Furthermore, it was also explained about the library services of the Faculty of Biology such as circulation services and online services to make it easier for new postgraduate students to support their academic activities. In addition, the BIO-DIGILIB application, which is the Digital Library of the Faculty of Biology UGM, can be accessed via windows or Android smartphones. After that, it was explained about the activities of the UGM Faculty of Biology Library which is not only responsible for providing library services but also making contributions such as literacy classes for new students, community service, collaborating with other units, reviewing books, training and others.

At the end of the presentation, it was also conveyed about the types of online services that students can enjoy, including member registration/member activation, free references,  final project files submission, extension of borrowing books through simaster account, and lastly about renting space in the library itself. In the last session, it was also explained about the presence of visitors to the UGM Faculty of Biology Library through the simaster account of the student concerned. It was hoped that this type of event can add some  insight and knowledge to new students about how to get access to services in the library.

The UGM Biology Museum presented their routine thematic exhibitions in the first quarter of 2023. Unlike the previous theme, the theme raised this time is snake exhibition. The exhibition takes place in room 2. The purpose of this snake exhibition is to provide educational facilities to visitors regarding various matters related to the life of snakes and also contains various tips and facts about snakes.

When visitors entered the thematic exhibition room, visitors will get information about tips to prevent the arrival of snakes. In addition, there were some infographics about how the snake’s life cycle takes place and the division of snake groups based on fangs and their habitat. This exhibition also presented some interesting facts about snake tongues. After that, there were taxidermy displays of various snake species, intact snake skeletons, as well as wet preservation.

In the future, various thematic exhibition innovations will always be improved in order to educate visitors with interesting information.

The issue that Educational Laboratory Institutions (PLP) or laboratory assistants typically encounter is that they have not implemented techniques for operating, maintaining, and repairing microscopes properly and correctly. This problem arises especially in agencies that have laboratories and microscopes in them. Therefore, on Tuesday 7 February 2023  the Faculty of Biology UGM held Training on Microscope Operation and Repair Techniques at UGM.

“This training is for the MBKM program for Education Personnel, especially for Laboratory Assistants at UGM. Why MBKM? because the participants who took part in the training today willingly to learn more without any enforcement” said Mr. Mulyanto, S.T., M.M as Chair of the Committee who also serves as Plt. Head of Administration Office of the Faculty of Biology UGM.

The full day training was opened by the Vice Dean for Finance, Assets and HR, Dr. Niken Satuti Nur Handayani, M.Sc. In her remarks Dr. Niken thanked the organizers for their initiative in organizing this event. She also thanked the participants who had enthusiastically participated in this event. This enthusiasm can be seen from the participants who attended the training coming from six faculties at Gadjah Mada University, which are Faculty of Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Faculty of Dentistry. She hoped that through this training, this knowledge could be applied in the laboratories of each participant.

The training, which was held at the Microteaching Laboratory, Building B, 2nd Floor, Faculty of Biology, UGM, started at 08.00 a.m. to 04.00 p.m. The resource persons were from PT Miconos, which is one of the manufacturers and distributors of laboratory equipment in Yogyakarta. The training was continued with independent assignments on the 8 to 9 February 2023 in the laboratory of each participant.

2023 Faculty of Biology Outstanding Student Election Socialization event was held with the theme “Get ready, show your greatest achievement” by the Department of Scientific Development, Student Executive Board Faculty of Biology. This socialization was held on Sunday, 22 January 2023 at 10.00-12.00 a.m. This event was attended by around 30 students from the Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The event began with a talk show session by Adhelia Intan Sabhira as the 2022 Biology Faculty outstanding student and continued with a talk show session by I Putu Gede Eka Praptika as the UGM 3rd level outstanding student.

The 2023 Faculty of Biology Outstanding Student Selection Socialization event was held with the aim of increasing knowledge about Pilmapres, students’ hard skills and soft skills and increasing student enthusiasm to participate with various experiences that will be shared during the activity. The event was held in 2 forms, a talk show session and a question and answer session. The talk show session discussed the speaker’s experiences and impressions, during and after the Outstanding Student Selection event at both the Faculty and University levels, guidelines for registration of outstanding students, benefits of becoming an outstanding student, tips & tricks for preparing the selection of outstanding students at both the Faculty and University levels, such as how to self-branding, building self-confidence and others. Finally, the event was closed with a question and answer session from the audience to all the speakers present regarding the materials that had been presented as well as other questions regarding the 2023 Pilmapres.

PMW Talk is one of the work programs under the Creative Economy Department of BEM Biology. The PMW Talk was held on Saturday, 21 January 2023. The purpose of this activity is to help introduce the Student Entrepreneurial Week (PMW) program among students, especially Biology students and it is hoped that it will be able to increase the entrepreneurial spirit to be able to take part in PMW activities. This event was chaired by Salfa Athallah.

This year, PMW Talk presented friends from the Yoguruto team consisting of Eva (Biology 2021), Andrea (Biology 2020), and Hanif (Biology 2021). The Yoguruto team is a team from the biology faculty that has successfully passed funding in 2022. Submission of material in the form of the initial idea of ​​forming a team, the definition of PMW, terms and conditions, timeline, benefits, activities in PMW, and funding tips to qualify.After the presentation session, a question and answer session was opened which was answered directly by the Yoguruto team. This event ended at 11.15 a.m. and ended with a documentation session.

Apart from being a food provider, the agricultural and plantation sectors have a role in driving the community’s economy, especially farmers. However, this sector is one of the causes of loss of tropical forest ecosystems as well as one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Having the ambition to minimize the impact of agriculture on the sustainability of tropical forest ecosystems, Br. Mukhlish Jamal, lecturer at the Faculty of Biology UGM, was selected as a recipient of the Project on Resource and Governance (PRG) Fellowship research grant, along with two other recipients from South Africa and Benin. In his submitted project, Mr.Mukhlish will identify the inhibiting aspects and opportunities that support the implementation of sustainable tropical agriculture.

“From the point of view of ecological science, maintaining sustainability in equitable agricultural land can be done by utilizing the ecosystem services provided by the biological community. However, agricultural production and nature conservation often clash so that it seems as if we can only choose one.” said the biology lecturer who is currently completing his studies at the Department of Biology, University of Oxford, UK.

For two weeks (January 17-27 2023), Mukhlish had the opportunity to discuss with several staff and postgraduate students at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to refine the research plan to be carried out. This research is an effort to downstream the results of Mr. Mukhlish is related to the function of ecosystems in tropical agro-ecosystems to support agricultural sustainability as well as nature conservation.

“Hopefully this study can be applied to support the fulfillment of Indonesia’s commitment to climate change mitigation in Indonesia as stated in the NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution)” hope Mr. Mukhlish.

Thursday on 2 February 2022, the Research Team for the Independent Learning Campus Program (Lit MBKM) of the Faculty of Biology UGM, chaired by Dr. Rarastoeti Pratiwi M.Sc. with Pratama Atha Nafi, Diani Nur Dzakiyah, Lutfi Maulana and Cintya Angelina, have carried out an initial visit at CV Pradipta Paramita, Karanganyar, Central Java. The visit was warmly welcomed by Dra. Agnes Heratri M.P., as the Main Director of CV Pradipta Paramita, along with several managerial staff. In his remarks, he said that CV Pradipta Paramita was very open to the partnership that would be forged with the UGM Faculty of Biology. According to Mrs. Agnes, she is very happy with this collaboration, because as an alumni of the 1982 batch of the Faculty of Biology UGM, she hopes to provide more benefits to her alma mater.

During the meeting, it was also conveyed about the activities and various products that have been produced by CV Pradipta Paramita, including in the form of supplements and probiotics to support the health of livestock and fish, various organic plant fertilizers, as well as biological agents to control horticultural plant pests. CV Pradipta Paramita also produces various herbal-based health drink products. The company also has an experimental garden where product prototypes are tested to be applied to horticultural crops. Product marketing from this CV covers various cities in Indonesia.

After listening to an explanation from CV Pradipta Paramita, then followed by a discussion between the MBKM Lit team at the Faculty of Biology UGM. The discussion began with some questions from students, starting from the beginning of the establishment of CV Pradipta Paramita, to becoming the Biotechnology Industry. Mrs. Agnes explained about the many problems that arise in society, starting from the health, agriculture, fishery and environment sectors. In fact, Indonesia has extraordinary biological wealth, which can be used to overcome these problems. The various products produced by CV Pradipta started with the results of research, observation and field tests, data analysis and then made products that have been tested and registered with the relevant agencies to be traded.

The MBKM Research Team also conveyed the theme of the research that would be carried out jointly, namely regarding the development of butterfly pea plants as a health drink and anti-pest product for cultivated plants. The butterfly pea plant (Clitoria ternate) is the choice, because based on a literature review, the butterfly pea flower has properties as an antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-depressant. In addition to its distinctive color, blue to purple, butterfly pea flowers can be combined with various other herbs and nutrients, so that they can be made into health drinks. In addition, the eggplant also contains compounds that can be used as insecticides, hence that it can be developed into a biological agent for controlling pests in horticultural crops.

During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Faculty of Biology UGM and CV. Pradipta Paramita signed by the Main Director, Dra. Agnes Heratri, M.P., with the Dean, Prof. Dr. Budi Setiadi Daryono, M.Agr.Sc. This collaboration is expected to be expanded and improved again for the next five years. The visit ended with mementos in the form of several health drink products from CV Pradipta Paramita.

Sunday at 29 February 2023, the UGM Faculty of Biology Team consisting of the Dean, Deputy Dean for Research, Community Service, Cooperation and Alumni, Head of Office and Administration, Head of Administration, Finance and General Affairs Section and The Faculty of Biology UGM Collaboration Staff section visited the Ajibarang Hospital to take part in a series of activities for the 16th Anniversary of Ajibarang Hospital in 2023.

The series of activities for the anniversary of the Ajibarang Hospital began with remarks and submission of reports from dr. Noegroho Harbani, M.Sc.,Sp.S. as the Director of Ajibarang Hospital and continued with the reading of the prayer, then followed by the opening of the event by Ir. Ahmad Husein as Regent of Banyumas, Line Dance, tree planting assistance from the Faculty of Biology UGM, Inauguration of the BPJS KRIS Under Standard Seagull Treatment Room, Ajibarang Hospital Anniversary Celebration which was enlivened with several competitions and door prizes, and ended with the signing of the MoU and PKS (Cooperation Agreement)  between the Faculty of Biology UGM and Ajibarang Hospital.

The Faculty of Biology UGM has donated walnut tree seedlings (100 trees), avocado trees (2 trees), Super Sleman longan trees (4 trees), longkong trees (1 tree), and blackboard trees (1 tree) to be planted in the Ajibarang Hospital development area.

The symbolic planting was carried out by the Banyumas Regent, Chairperson of the Banyumas Regency DPRD, Director of the Ajibarang Hospital and Dean of the Faculty of Biology UGM by planting avocado and walnut trees which followed by mass planting by all Ajibarang Hospital employees on Friday, 3 February 2023 with the hope that in the next five to ten years Ajibarang Hospital will become a green-hospital to increase the comfort and quality of the hospital environment.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Cooperation Agreement (PKS) between the Faculty of Biology UGM and Ajibarang Hospital was held in the Director’s room of Ajibarang Hospital, attended by officials and doctors of Ajibarang Hospital.The scope of the collaboration includes cooperation in the fields of education and training, research and scientific publications, community service, the Independent Learning Campus (MBKM) program, and cooperation in the 2023 Matching Fund grant with Prof. Purnomo, M.S. (Professor of Plant Systematics at the Faculty of Biology UGM) as the chief proponent for the development of milk gourd cultivation and processed products in improving public health in Ajibarang District, Banyumas Regency, Central Java.

“Ajibarang Hospital almost feels like our home because the welcome was so warm and friendly. Planting a tree means planting a life because when a tree is planted there will be many other lives that will be present. Hopefully one day representatives from the Ajibarang Hospital can also visit the Faculty of Biology UGM so that I can take you on a tour of the Sawitsari Research Station and Porok Beach, Faculty of Biology UGM,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Biology UGM.

Director of Ajibarang Hospital, dr. Noegroho Harbani, M.Sc., Sp.S also expressed his gratitude and hoped that with this collaboration apart from transferring seeds, the Faculty of Biology UGM can also transfer knowledge, especially for stunting management programs in the Ajibarang area.