Professor Charlie Danny Heatubun has substantial involvement in Indonesia’s upturn. He has an excellent contribution, particularly in the scope of education, government bureaucrats, and research.
Educational Background
Born in Manokwari, West Papua, Professor Heatubun has general expertise in Biodiversity, Environmental Science, Conservation, Forestry, Management, and Research and Development Policy.
In detail, Professor Heatubun got his academic title of Bachelor of Forestry (Sarjana Kehutanan) from the Faculty of Agriculture, Cenderawasih University, in 1997. Nine years later, Professor Heatubun completed his Master’s degree at the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), West Java, in 2006.
In 2009, three years after his Master’s degree, Professor Heatubun finished his Doctoral study program at the Bogor Agricultural University. Along the way, Professor Charlie Danny Heatubun has made countless contributions to education, especially forestry and flora.
While working as a lecturer at the University of Papua, Professor Heatubun expounds on some courses for master’s and doctoral programs in Environmental, Forestry, and Biological Sciences. Besides that, Professor Heatubun also gives public lectures for other universities, along with his duty at the University of Papua.
Like in 2019, together with Gabriel Asem, S.E., M.Si. (regent of Tabrauw), he conducts public lectures at Gadjah Mada University. The main topic is the implementation of sustainable development policies based on biodiversity and climate change research.
Charlie Danny Heatubun: Father of World Palm
With his educational background, Professor Charlie has numerous world-class research papers published in international journals. He is also experienced in global research and working with Botanists from around the world.
One of his remarkable works is his findings on three new genera of palms, Manjekia, Jailoloa, and Wallaceodoxa, in 2014. Furthermore, in 2015, he discovered a new betel nut, which was later named “Areka Jokowi.” This new type of areca nut resulted from his expedition in the border area between Papua and West Papua provinces.
He was called Bapak Palem Dunia, or Father of World Palm, for this achievement. On top of that, he got not only once but twice the Eponym award which is a prestigious award for plant taxonomists.
Involvement in Government Bureaucrats
Aside from his career as a Forest Botany and Forest Resources professor at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Papua, Professor Heatubun is active in local government organizations.
Since 1998 until now, Professor Heatubun has been a member of national and international professional associations in terms of flora. In 2003, he joined as a member, consultant, and even leader for some activities related to Biodiversity, nationally and internationally. Not only that, Professor Heatubun is active in regional planning and development.
Next, in January 2017, professor Heatubun started his career at the Regional Research and Development Agency (Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah). Professor Heatbun officiated as the head of the regional research as well as the secretary of the agency.
Later, in July 2018, Professor Heatubun was inaugurated by Drs. Dominggus Mandacan, the Governor of West Papua. He was initiated as Head of the Balitbangda of West Papua Province and has served until the present time.
Professor Charlie Danny Heatubun’s Contribution to West Papua
One of Professor Heatubun’s contributions is uniting development partners in supporting the West Papua initiative as a Sustainable Development Province (Province of Conservation).
Not only that, there was another contribution that Professor Charlie made. In October 2021, together with the Regional Research and Development Agency for West Papua, they held a collaboration for the sake of West Papua’s improvement.
The collaboration is between the Regional Research and Development Agency and POLINEF (Politeknik Negeri Fakfak). This collaboration is to maximize the utilization of superior commodities in West Papua, such as coffee, sago, nutmeg, cocoa, and seaweed.
In addition, Professor Charlie is the figure behind some of the successful international events in Papua. He was the steering committee chairman at the International Conference on Biodiversity, Eco-Tourism and Creative Economy Papua (ICBE) 2016 in Jayapura, Papua Province.Charlie Danny Heatubun was also the chairperson of the organizing committee at the International Conference on Biodiversity and the International Conference on Business and Economics (ICBE) 2018 in Manokwari.
