Udayana outreach links Angseri hot springs research to wellness tourism

Angseri — — A Udayana University community-service team has begun sharing research on the water chemistry and microbial life of Angseri’s geothermal hot springs with visitors at the Angseri Nature Tourism site in Baturiti, Tabanan, as part of a science-based wellness tourism initiative led by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

According to the faculty, the outreach activity was held on Saturday, 12 September 2026 under the 2026 Udayana Mengabdi (Udayana Serving) program and chaired by Dr. I Nengah Wirajana. The university presents the work as a response to limited scientific literacy about Angseri’s hot-spring water chemistry and the diversity of microbes associated with the site, which it argues could provide added educational value for visitors.

The community-service team said its research aims to explain the hot spring’s geochemical characteristics and highlight the biotechnological potential of thermophilic microbes that thrive at high temperatures. These findings are being used as material for public education and as a conceptual basis for evidence-based destination management.

What the project presented

During the outreach session, the academic team distributed educational brochures and held direct conversations with domestic and international tourists visiting Angseri. The university stated that the materials are designed to present the area’s geochemical and microbial features, rather than treating the hot springs solely as a recreational bathing facility.

The brochures include QR codes that link to a digital portal providing access to review articles on hot-spring potential, peer-reviewed research papers in international journals, and an Angseri Hot Spring Metagenome entry registered in the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA). ENA, hosted by EMBL-EBI, is an open global repository for nucleotide sequence data, including metagenomic datasets from environmental samples.

Udayana University said similar QR-based access points will later be embedded in permanent interactive information boards at the Angseri tourism area. The digital portal is described as a dynamic resource that will be updated regularly as further studies are completed by university researchers.

Available project details

• Program: 2026 Udayana Mengabdi community-service initiative of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
• Event date: Saturday, 12 September 2026.
• Location: Angseri Nature Tourism, Angseri Village, Baturiti District, Tabanan Regency.
• Research focus: Water chemistry, geochemistry and the potential of thermophilic microbes at Angseri hot springs.
• Data channel: QR-linked review articles, international research publications and an ENA-registered Angseri Hot Spring metagenome dataset.

Wellness tourism framing and scientific context

The university frames the outreach as part of efforts to support wellness tourism at Angseri, aligning the program with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on health and well-being (SDG 3), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) and life on land (SDG 15). In this framing, Angseri is positioned as both a recreational destination and a natural laboratory whose geothermal ecosystem has educational and potential biotechnological value.

However, the university’s announcement does not present clinical findings or specific public-health guidance regarding bathing in Angseri’s hot-spring water. Separate scientific work cited in the portal has documented an “Angseri Hot Spring Metagenome” dataset on ENA under the study PRJEB70710, including 16S rRNA sequencing data labeled as Angseri Hot Spring Metagenome (accession ERX11741303). That dataset forms part of a broader investigation of prokaryotic communities in Indonesian hot springs, but it is not presented as a direct medical evaluation of Angseri’s waters.

According to Udayana University, the outreach aims to strengthen the destination’s image through science-based interpretation and digital access to underlying research. The approach is expected to help managers and visitors understand Angseri’s geothermal environment while supporting a more knowledge-oriented tourism offer.

Context

The university notes that Angseri’s hot springs have historically been used mainly for conventional tourism activities. The September 12 event proposes adding structured research communication, digital information and environmental education to this existing model, with Angseri promoted as both a leisure site and a venue for learning about geothermal ecosystems and microbial diversity.

In parallel, published data from Angseri and other Balinese hot springs show that metagenomic and 16S rRNA-based methods are being used to characterize microbial communities in geothermal environments, with sequence data deposited in ENA for open access and reuse. These emerging datasets provide a scientific backdrop for local initiatives that seek to connect wellness-themed tourism with documented environmental and microbiological characteristics.

Sources

• Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Udayana University – outreach article on Angseri hot springs
• Prokaryotic communities profiling of Indonesian hot springs – data note and ENA deposition
• Data note on Indonesian hot springs microbial communities (Angseri Hot Spring Metagenome)
• European Nucleotide Archive repository record