Prof. Nia Kurniawan, S.Si, M.P, D.Sc is Inaugurated as Professor, Wednesday (28/5/2025), at the Samantha Krida building, Universitas Brawijaya (UB). She is a Professor in Vertebrate Taxonomy, at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA). Prof. Nia is the 33rd active Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the 252nd active Professor at UB, and the 430th Professor of all Professors produced by UB.
Indonesia is recognized as an archipelago with the second largest diversity of endemic vertebrate animals after the Andes Mountains and Mesoamerica. However, in reality, there is an increasing threat of extinction for endemic vertebrates.
The threat comes from ecological pressures caused by habitat destruction, climate change, the impact of human urbanization activities and excessive exploitation.
“Conservation efforts are often hampered by one fundamental problem, namely that we do not really know the species we want to protect,” said Nia.
According to her, vertebrate taxonomy is a very crucial key for species identification, classification and documentation to support effective and sustainable conservation efforts. Vertebrate taxonomy can be applied as a policy direction determination in the protection, preservation and sustainable use of vertebrate animals.
Prof. Nia developed the TAXVERTREE model which offers advantages as an integrative approach that combines morphological identification, genetic verification, and evolutionary analysis through phylogenetic trees. This model improves the accuracy of species classification, detects twin species, and helps set conservation priorities based on evolutionary proximity. Additionally, this approach reduces misidentification and strengthens scientific validity through objective data. [MIT/UB PR/ Trans. Iir]
