Categories Asia, Council, Malaysia, People

June Rubis

Environmental Conservationist June Rubis wants to highlight and use the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples in her conservation work in Borneo. Photo: Art Chen/ The Star

Thematic representative for documenting territories of life

Based in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and unceded Gadigal territories (Sydney, Australia). As a former conservation biologist, June Rubis has about twelve years in hands-on wildlife conservation fieldwork in both Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo. She has also worked on Indigenous land rights and environmental issues in collaboration with Indigenous activists and NGOs in Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah). She has carried out research on Bidayuh ritual revitalization, under the guidance of her Bidayuh father and relatives, linking the revitalization with environmental change in her home state of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Much of her approach to her work follows the teachings of her parents, including her late Bidayuh father, following his own parentsjourney as traditional Bidayuh priest and priestess. Her recent PhD research examined a decolonial Indigenous approach to orangutan conservation in Sarawak. She holds both an MSc in Environmental Change and Management and a DPhil (Ph.D.) in Geography & Environment, from the University of Oxford. June is an Honorary member of the ICCA Consortium and has served a full term as co-chair of documenting territories of life in the ICCA Consortium’s global Council (2020-2023), participating actively in the Consortium’s activities in this stream of work. 

Contact