Author's note

What is it about travel that heightens our sense of awe and awakens our instinctive curiosity? Both have been linked with enhanced critical and creative thinking, and are at the heart of scientific motivation.

I experienced this first hand on a holiday to Borneo in 2004. Turns out it was more than just a chance to see incredible wildlife like orangutans and pygmy elephants – it helped crystallise for me the innate nature of scientific thinking.

Now as I reflect on that trip, I feel a shift in my motivation for visiting unique natural wonders - an urgency to see them before they are fundamentally changed, or disappear altogether.

Darren Curnoe

Associate Professor and Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of New South Wales

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Hanging out in Borneo. from www.shutterstock.com

That time when science came with me on a tropical holiday

Darren Saunders, UNSW

My holiday to Borneo in 2004 was more than just a chance to see incredible wildlife like orangutans and pygmy elephants. It helped crystallise for me the innate nature of scientific thinking.

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