Toy with a purpose

MEME researcher Lim We Siong is turning hobbyist air craft into high tech conservation tools, which will be used to to make detailed maps that will enable researchers to better understand the relationships between land use planning and the development of human-elephant conflict zones. MEME (Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants), a collaboration between the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks is studying elephant populations in and around the Belum-Temengor rainforest.

LIM Wee Siong used to be a quality assurance engineer in Silicone Valley, until he quit his job and decided to get into conservation work. Now, he spends his time pimping up hobbyist aircraft under the Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants (MEME) project.

It has taken him six months to figure out how to build, fly, crash and repair a remote-controlled airplane. Now he’s ready to use it to make detailed maps that will enable researchers to better understand the relationships between land use planning and the development of human-elephant conflict zones.