Miriam Supuma
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Miriam Supuma is a conservationist in Papua New Guinea (PNG). She was the co-founder and co-director of the PNG Institute of Biological Research (PNGIBR), a scientific research NGO. Her field research has centred around Birds of Paradise, particularly in relation to the use of their feathers for traditional adornment by people in the highlands of PNG.
Supuma's father worked for the police department and was posted to several different rural locations, accompanied by his family. She was particularly influenced by their time in the Western Province of PNG, close to the town of Merauke in the Indonesia province of Papua. This is a region of considerable bird diversity that receives many migratory species. She was given freedom to roam around and explore the forests and freshwater streams.[1]
Supuma went to the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) to study for a degree in biology, majoring in ecology. During her final year, she was selected to participate in a one-month training course being run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in PNG. This gave her the opportunity to fly to remote areas and created in her an awareness of peoples' dependence on their environment. The experience led to her deciding that she wanted to work in the field of conservation. Her research that led to her first-class honours degree at UPNG was carried out on forest dynamics in Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, in the PNG highlands. She later studied between 2004 and 2005 for a master's degree in tropical rainforest ecology at James Cook University in North Queensland, Australia, an area with considerable tropical rainforest.[1][2][3]
