{{Short description|Malaysian zoologist (1926–2020)}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Lim Boo Liat |image = |birth_name = |birth_date = {{birth date|1926|08|21}} |birth_place = Klang, Selangor, Federated Malay States, British Malaya (now Malaysia) |death_date = {{death date and age|2020|07|11|1926|08|21}} |death_place = Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |death_cause = |fields = |work_institutions = |alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|University of Aberdeen|University of Science, Malaysia}} |thesis_title = |thesis_year = |doctoral_students = |known_for = |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |prizes = |religion = |footnotes = |signature = }}
'''Lim Boo Liat''' (21 August 1926 – 11 July 2020) was a Malaysian zoologist whose pioneering work revealed the biological diversity of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. He was a conservationist and a strong advocate for the preservation of the region's natural heritage.
Lim was a prolific researcher, and authored over 300 scientific papers and multiple books. He was bestowed several honors during his long career, including being the first Southeast Asian to receive Honorary Membership in the American Society of Mammalogists, and winning the Merdeka Award in 2013.<ref name=Merdeka />
== Early years ==
Lim Boo Liat was born 21 August 1926 in Klang, Selangor.<ref name="Merdeka">{{cite web |title=Recipient Profile: Dr Lim Boo Liat |url=https://www.merdekaaward.my/the-award/past-recipients/environment/dr-lim-boo-liat |website=Merdeka Award |accessdate=16 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="Ying2014">{{cite news |last1=Ying |first1=Lim Chia |title=A zoologist talks about life among the wilds |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/environment/2014/04/14/a-zoologist-talks-about-life-among-the-wilds |accessdate=16 July 2020 |work=The Star |date=14 April 2014 |location=Petaling Jaya, Malaysia}}</ref> Nature lessons in school inspired a love for the outdoors, and he spent time in his youth collecting plants and insects.<ref name=Ying2014 />
Lim was sixteen years old when World War II came to Malaya, disrupting his studies; he worked odd jobs to support his family.<ref name=Merdeka /> He traveled to Carey Island and set up machinery to harvest salt from sea water.<ref name=Ying2014 /> During his time on the island, he learned to identify animals from the indigenous people, the Mah Meri.<ref name=Ying2014 />
== Career ==
Although lacking formal education, the zoological knowledge Lim learned on Carey Island provided the opportunity to take a temporary lab assistant position at the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) in Kuala Lumpur after World War II.<ref name=Ying2014 /><ref name=Bedi2020 /> His first assignment was studying scrub typhus, carried from mites to rats.<ref name=Ying2014 /> Further studies also focused on small mammals and parasites, and involved travel throughout Southeast Asia under the auspices of the Bishop Museum.<ref name=Merdeka /> This included carrying out an ecological study of the fauna of Batu Caves.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lim |first=T. W. |date=2022 |title=Lim Boo Liat and Batu Caves |url=http://mnj.my |journal=Malayan Nature Journal |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=487–489}}</ref> During this time, he also helped found the National Zoo of Malaysia and in the 1950s, helped reestablish the Malaysian Nature Society after a hiatus caused by World War II.<ref name=Merdeka />
Lim took a three-year break to earn his master's degree in the late 1960s. He returned to the IMR as a zoologist in 1972, heading the IMR's Medical Ecology Division.<ref name=Ying2014 /><ref name=Merdeka />
In 1977, Lim became the head of the Vector Biology Control Research Unit of the World Health Organization in Jakarta, Indonesia.<ref name=Bedi2020 /> His work there included research on plague, malaria control, and rodent control.<ref name=Bedi2020 /> He worked at the WHO until his retirement in 1987.<ref name=Bedi2020 />
After his retirement, Lim became the honorary consultant on zoology for the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia, helping to establish a research laboratory for small animals.<ref name=Merdeka /> Throughout his career, he was an author on over 300 scientific papers and wrote multiple books, including ''Poisonous Snakes of Peninsula Malaysia'' (1979), ''Orang Asli Animal Tales'' (1981), and ''Turtles of Borneo'' (1999).<ref name=Ying2014 />
== Education ==
In 1959 Lim received a Sino-British Fellowship Trust Award and spent a year and a half studying animal ecology and the taxonomy of mammals under Charles S. Elton at Oxford University and George Dunnet at Aberdeen University.<ref name=Merdeka /> Lim received a Medical Research Council Fellowship in 1969 to complete his master's degree in science from the University of Aberdeen.<ref name=Bedi2020 /><ref name=Ying2014 />
He was the first person to be awarded a Ph.D. from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1977.<ref name=Bedi2020 />
== Death and legacy ==
Lim died at his home in Cheras on 11 July 2020. He was 93.<ref name="Bedi2020">{{cite news |last1=Bedi |first1=Rashvinjeet S. |title=Malaysian zoology pioneer Dr Lim Boo Liat dies at 94 |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/07/12/malaysian-zoology-pioneer-dr-lim-boo-liat-dies-at-94 |accessdate=16 July 2020 |work=The Star |date=12 July 2020 |location=Petaling Jaya, Malaysia}}</ref>
He was the fourth Asian and first Southeast Asian to be awarded honorary membership to the American Society of Mammalogists, "conferred in recognition of a distinguished career in service to mammalogy".<ref name=Bedi2020 /><ref>{{cite web |title=Elected Honorary Members |url=https://www.mammalsociety.org/committees/honorary-membership/honorary-membership-award-winners |website=American Society of Mammalogists |accessdate=16 July 2020 |archive-date=13 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813101228/http://www.mammalsociety.org/committees/honorary-membership/honorary-membership-award-winners |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lim had multiple species named after him, including snake ''Oligodon booliati'', protozoa ''Sarcocytis booliati'', frog ''Kalophrynus limbooliati'', flea ''Medwayellia limi'', chigger ''Babiangia booliati'', and parasitic worms ''Helimonella limbooliati'', ''Plasmodium booliati'', and ''Brienlia booliati''.<ref name=Ying2014 />
He was particularly well-respected for his dedication to supporting the careers of biologists and conservationists at the beginning of their careers, providing mentorship and ensuring younger scientists had opportunities to publish.<ref name=Bedi2020 /><ref name=Ying2014 />
== Awards and recognition ==
* 1959 Sino-British Fellowship Trust Award from the British Council<ref>{{cite web |title=Conservationist and zoology icon Lim Boo Liat dies at 94 |url=http://mimls.org/blog/87-Conservationist-and-zoology-icon-Lim-Boo-Liat-dies-at-94.html |website=Malaysian Institute of Medical Laboratory Services |accessdate=16 July 2020 |date=12 July 2020 |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419085206/http://mimls.org/blog/87-Conservationist-and-zoology-icon-Lim-Boo-Liat-dies-at-94.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 1978 Sandosham Gold Medal from the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine<ref name=Ying2014 /> * 1995 Science and Technology Award from the Malaysia Toray Science Foundation<ref name=Ying2014 /> * 2003 Honorary Member of the American Society of Mammalogists<ref name=Ying2014 /> * 2007 Elected Fellow of the Akademi Sains Malaysia<ref name=Ying2014 /> * 2007 Spallanzani Award from the North American Society for Bat Research<ref name=Ying2014 /> * 2013 Merdeka Award, environment category<ref name=Merdeka />
== External links == * [https://magazine.scientificmalaysian.com/issue-8-2014/interview-dr-lim-boo-liat 2014 interview with Dr. Lim Boo Liat]
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Boo Liat}} Category:1926 births Category:2020 deaths Category:20th-century zoologists Category:Malaysian biologists Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen