NUS Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology Lab

Graduate Students

> Choo Yuan Ting
> Goh Seok Ping
> Eunice Ng Yi Hui
> Stanley Seah Wei Hou
> Tang Jun Hao
> Laura Yap Yen Ling

Eunice Ng Yi Hui, Ph.D Student

Contact Details

Dept of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
Science Drive 4
Singapore 117543
Tel: +65 65162704
Email: g0800926@nus.edu.sg

Academic history

I used to do molecular work in the NUS Evolution lab. I’ve investigated the accuracy of the hyped-up DNA barcoding project that is conducted worldwide. DNA barcoding aims at creating a DNA database of short DNA sequences (eg, COXI, cytb) sequenced from all organisms in the world and using these sequences as “barcodes” for identification of the species. However, I found that COXI and cytb genes do not differ significantly enough between aquarium fish species to be able to differentiate one species from the next with an acceptable level of accuracy. Further studies are now working on finding other genes which might be more appropriate for this task.

Research interests

For my PhD research, I am currently studying the territorial behaviors in domestic cats that are housed in animal shelters. Cats are notoriously solitary and territorial in nature, often defending a large territory using visual and/or olfactory cues. Yet, no one knows how they deal with this instinctual urge to maintain their personal boundaries when they are “forced” to “co-habit” with many other strange cats in animal shelter enclosures. I am interested to determine how cats manifest their territorial instincts while maintaining the “harmony” required to live with other cats for prolonged periods of time. Hopefully this will shed light on how to further improve animal welfare in our animal shelters.

Eunice Ng Yi Hui, Ph.D Student
	Contact Details Dept of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Science Drive 4 Singapore 117543 Tel: +65 65162704 Email: g0800926@nus.edu.sg
Academic history I used to do molecular work in the NUS Evolution lab. I’ve investigated the accuracy of the hyped-up DNA barcoding project that is conducted worldwide. DNA barcoding aims at creating a DNA database of short DNA sequences (eg, COXI, cytb) sequenced from all organisms in the world and using these sequences as “barcodes” for identification of the species. However, I found that COXI and cytb genes do not differ significantly enough between aquarium fish species to be able to differentiate one species from the next with an acceptable level of accuracy. Further studies are now working on finding other genes which might be more appropriate for this task. Research interests For my PhD research, I am currently studying the territorial behaviors in domestic cats that are housed in animal shelters. Cats are notoriously solitary and territorial in nature, often defending a large territory using visual and/or olfactory cues. Yet, no one knows how they deal with this instinctual urge to maintain their personal boundaries when they are “forced” to “co-habit” with many other strange cats in animal shelter enclosures. I am interested to determine how cats manifest their territorial instincts while maintaining the “harmony” required to live with other cats for prolonged periods of time. Hopefully this will shed light on how to further improve animal welfare in our animal shelters.