Provide a brief, one-paragraph biography, written in the third-person, which

summarizes your professional background and experiences, expertise, and

accomplishments. Please note that this biography may be used in publications or
announcements that provide information on our Fellows (max 150 words.

Ms. Isma Rysdia belongs to village -----sub District -----province Java, Indonesia. She
completed her junior and senior high school education from her local town------, in 2003. She
decided to work as a social scientist helping marginalized communities, raising their life
standards by understanding sustainable man-nature relationship. Thus she joined Department
of ------at Bogor Agricultural University and got her first degree in Communication and
societal development. During course of time she realized that the sustainable use of natural
resources is as important as the presence of resources itself. She decided to explore the
mechanisms involved in natural resource exploitation and its role in community’s
development in far and remote islands of Indonesia. She is committed to work as social and
environmental activist. She got MEXT Japanese government scholarship and is currently
doing Masters in Environmental Sociology from Hokkaido University. Her Master research
focuses on ‘‘Tin and Gold mining in banku island, Indonesia’’.

Describe in greater detail your leadership experience within your professional field and
your larger community. Include specific examples of experiences which called on your
ability to solve problems, work effectively in groups, adapt to change, and other similar
challenges. Consider how your background and experience would tie into the elements
of this program and elaborate on how the program would help you advance and achieve
future goals or outcomes (max 400 words)

I grew up in a small town of -----where I have seen pheasants working on lush green hillside
cultivating tea and rice all the day long. From my childhood I have been always curious to
understand and know about the people’s professions and their problems in life. I think of
myself lucky enough belonging to such a background where I have seen farmers, labour and
poor people very closely. This association motivated me to raise their voice and advocate
their issues at each and every level.

My first interaction with community was when I was in…………. Isma here you give
examples of any volunteer activity/ies you did during junior or senior high school time…

The most incredible interaction, opportunity and source of learning for me was my bachelors
research in which I approached ------------------Isma here you describe your bachelors
research and association with local people……

In year 200X I got an assignment from -------which made it possible for me to

understand----------- Isma here you present some of your experience with NGO’s or Other
bodies where you did something for local people it can be anything which may have helped
local people. In all above examples describe your role, what you did, if you were not the
leading person then described what you learned from it ….
A major change in my life was admission in Hokkaido University; here I got a platform to
further explore and develop my understanding about the subject of sustainable resource
utilization. During my research in Masters I visited Banngka Island two times, my first visit
was to ------------write what was the purpose of the first visit and the latest visit was about
--------write what you did in the second visit. This program will help me further explore my
research area and broaden my objectives. (Write about what limitation do you have now that
can be solved by giving you this fund/fellowship, it can be helpful in travelling or buying
other items etc).

Provide a very brief overview of your personalized professional development plan funded by the
US$5000 Professional Development Award. Be sure to describe your specific interests and how the
grant money would be used to advance further your professional development goals. Example uses
of grant funding include support for attending conferences, enrollment in specialized training
programs, undertaking additional educational coursework, language study, or independent
research. You do not need to provide projections of specific costs and dates at this time (max 150
words).

The professional development award will provide me an opportunity to expand my study area
to other islands in the country having the same issues. This will broaden my vision and will
give me a chance to upscale my studies to PhD level. I am also planning to visit Philippines
and Cambodia having similar issues. The case studies from these countries will help us
understand the issues and in light of the research results we can better design project
proposals helping local communities in providing appropriate technologies for sustainable
use of Metal mining and exploration. I want to see the impact of training the people involved
in the mining business; and with positive results it can be applied on large scale. This requires
more visits and idea sharing in international conferences and seminar. Thus Professional
development Award is the one such source of financial support which will help me overcome
these problems and will make it possible for my research to be delivered and tested at grass
root levels.