Advisory Board

Dr. C. Visvanathan is a Professor at the Department of Civil and  Environmental Engineering at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.  He has a Ph.D. (Chemical /Environmental Engineering) from the Institute of National Polytechnique, Toulouse, France.  His main areas of research interests include: Sustainable Consumption and Production, Membrane  technologies for water and wastewater treatment and solid waste disposal and management.  In the field of solid waste, his main research interests focus on waste recycling and reuse, landfill pre-treatment technologies, plus Plastic Waste Management. He has published more than 170 international journal papers.  He has more than 36 years of experience teaching environmental engineering and management-related courses at the graduate level.  His professional experiences include: Project Engineer, Asia Division, International Training Center for Water Resources Management, Sophia Antipolis, France, and short term consultant to UNEP Industry and Environment Office, Paris, France.  Prof. C. Visvanathan is one of the 2% of top scientists in a global list compiled by the prestigious Standford University in the year 2020 to 23

Prof. Dr. Rory P.D. Walsh is Professor Emeritus of Physical Geography at Swansea University, UK, and a globally recognized authority in tropical hydrology, geomorphology, and environmental change. With a career spanning over five decades, including a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, his research has been instrumental in understanding long-term forest dynamics, soil erosion, and the hydrological impacts of land-use change, particularly through his seminal work with the Royal Society’s South-East Asia Rain Forest Research Programme (SEARRP) in Borneo. A prolific scholar with over 200 peer-reviewed publications, Prof. Walsh’s expertise bridges the gap between historical climatology and contemporary ecosystem resilience. His extensive experience in leading international research consortia and his long-standing commitment to monitoring tropical drainage basins make him a distinguished voice in global Earth Science and climate adaptation strategies. 

Dr. Ryo Kohsaka was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.  He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Rural Development at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo, Japan.  After he graduated from the University of Tokyo, he served as Project Officer at the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) in Szentendre, Hungary.   In 2000, he was honored as a Life Fellow of REC.  He finished his Master degree in Environment and Development at the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom in 2000, and earned his PhD. degree in Forestry Economics, Freiburg University, Germany in 2004.  After he worked for the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montréal, Canada from 2006 to 2008, he served as Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Economics, Nagoya City University from 2008 to 2012.  He then served as Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Human and Socio- Environmental Studies, Kanazawa University, Japan from 2012 to 2016. He is currently a professor at Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University. His recent books include: “Chiiki Saisei, Gyakkyo kara Umareru Aratana Kokoromi” (Local Regeneration, New Trials born from Adversity) (Iwanami Booklet, Iwanami Shoten Publishers, in Japanese), “Seibutsutayousei to Watashitachi, COP10 kara mirai e” (Biodiversity and us – from COP10 to the Future) (Iwanami Junior Shinsho, Iwanami Shoten Publishers, in Japanese) and “Shitte okitai Chitekizaisan Katsuyojyutsu, Chiiki ga Ikinokorutameno Chie to Kuhu” (Application of Intellectual Property We Should Know, Knowledge and Innovation for Local Survival) (Gyosei Corporation, in Japanese). He also served as Advisor to the COP10 Support Committee from 2008 to 2010.  In 2010, he attended the International Youth Congress supported by the AEON Environmental Foundation that youths from more than 50 countries joined.  He has made great contributions to the evaluation of satoyama as a Visiting Fellow of the United Nations University.

NG founded Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute - a ~400 persons research, education, technology development, and industry inteface entity. With laboratory to full-scale facilities, it undertook Research-Translation-Engineering-Deployment.  Its community arm provided safe water and sanitation to ~1 million beneficiaries.  NG researched water, wastewater, and waste management focussing on quality, treatment science, and technology development - seeking better sustainability through water reclamation, advanced sludge management and energy recovery with carbon capture.  Aside from academic publications, NG’s  IPs are used in ~130 wastewater facilities - the largest at 1.2m ep has water reclamation, and biogas recovery. Other significant examples are Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and Jurong Island WWTP.  NG founded spinoff companies, was a major consulting firm’s chairman, and is advisor to companies and government agencies hence affording him familiarity with industry project configuration, implementation, and financing issues.  In recognitioon of conributions to R&D and industry, NG is a multi-awards recipient.

Prof. Dr. Yanfang Sang is based at Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Vise-President of the Tibet Nature Disaster Prevention Association in China; he is also a PI based at the Key Laboratory of Compound and Chained Natural Hazards Dynamics, Ministry of Emergency Management of China. He specializes in Hydroclimate, Water Resources, Natural Disasters, Sustainable Urban Water Management, and Climate Change. He is currently serving as principal investigators of several international and national projects focusing on the hydroclimate variability and related natural disasters, and their impacts and risk mitigation at global and regional scales.

During his academic studies and career, he received many fellowships, prizes, and awards. He is an Editor serving for several international Journals including “Scientific Reports”, “Natural Hazards Research”, “Hydrology”. He has published more than 100 papers tier international peer-reviewed journals such as Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, One Earth, Earth’s Future, Water Resources Research, etc. He is one of World’s top 2% scientists (Career-long) from 2022 recognized by Stanford University.

Lex Brown is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Planning at Griffith University, Brisbane. He is an internationally recognized specialist in noise and environmental acoustics, and also in Impact Assessment of physical developments at both project and strategic levels. He has four decades of experience working at the interface of environmental, social and community dimensions in both the developed and developing worlds. His acoustics research includes the human perception of noise, the effects on human health, prediction and modelling of transport noise and the impact of interventions, the effects of noise on wildlife, and soundscapes.

Besides his academic career, Lex Brown is consultant to international, government and private organizations in planning and environmental management practice. He is a Fellow of both the Planning and Acoustics professional societies in Australia, and his expertise is recognized by Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the International Association or Impact Assessment and the UK Noise Abatement Society.

Kurniatun Hairiah  is a Professor of Soil Biology and Root Ecology at the Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia. Her research focused on the “Biological Management of Soil Fertility on Acidic Soils” and “Agroforestry Management for adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts”. Over the last twenty years, in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Centre, ICRAF; with Perhutani (a state forest enterprise) and also with Oil Palm Plantations, her research has expanded to study the role of tree roots to stabilize riverbanks in the tropics,  management of Soil Health in Oil Palm Plantations and in agroforestry systems, agroforestry for reclamation of agricultural land after volcanic eruptions and agroforestry for reclamation of Imperata grassland. Since 2015-2023 she is head of division VII (Agriculture, Forestry and Environment research), at the Indonesian Association of Soil Sciences. She has led the Research Center "Management of Land Resources in the Tropics" in collaboration with several international institutions in Asia, Europe and Africa. Most recently she is a trainer on Rapid Carbon Stock Assessment (RACSA) for researchers from the Ministry of Forestry in Indonesia, as well as forestry researchers in Asia and Africa. Furthermore from 2015-present, she has served as a coordinator of the Research Study for "Tropical Agroforestry" at Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia. 

Professor Dr. Ahmad Zaharin Aris, CEnv, MRSC, FAPM, FTWAS, FASc is an internationally recognized scientist in hydrochemistry and environmental forensics, renowned for shaping Malaysia’s environmental and health policies. A Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Academy of Professors Malaysia, and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), his pioneering research on emerging pollutants such as microplastics and endocrine-disrupting chemicals has redefined national and international guidelines and standards. With over 500 publications, including 330+ in SCI journals (65% in Q1/Q2), he has been repeatedly ranked among the World’s Top 2% Scientists. His accolades include Top Research Scientist Malaysia, the Malaysia APEC Science Prize and the Malaysia Scopus Research Excellence Awards (Groundbreaking Contributions) by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and ELSEVIER. As an advisor to national ministries and international organizations and the UN’s plastic pollution treaty negotiations, he bridges science, policy, and community action globally.

Mohd Talib Latif is a professor of atmospheric chemistry and air pollution at the Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and a fellow of the Malaysian Academy of Science (FASc). He completed his BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Environmental Chemistry (Air Pollution) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and his PhD at the School of Environmental Science, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Department of Earth Sciences and Environment at the Faculty of Science and Technology, UKM, and as the President of the Malaysian Association for Aerosol and Air Quality Research (MAAQR). He was a Chairman of Sustainable Resources, Environment, and Smart Living, IDEA Centre UKM (2020-2023); deputy dean (postgraduate) at the Faculty of Science and Technology (2018-2020), Deputy Director at the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI, UKM) (2015-2018), Head of the Centre for the Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM), Institute for Climate Change (2013-2014) and Head of the Environmental Science Programme (2010-2013). In 2014, he did his sabbatical leave at the Centre for Atmospheric Science, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge. His main research work involves the composition of atmospheric aerosols from various sources, including the sea surface microlayer (SML). He also works on the composition of gases, primarily focusing on surface ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere. His research group collaborates closely with government agencies in Malaysia, including the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) and the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia). At the international level, he is actively involved with the research community within the Asian continent through the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry-Monsoon Asia (IGAC-MANGO) project. From 2018 to 2023, he was appointed to one of the scientific steering committees for the Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS). He is currently a member of the Task Force Bureau (TFB) on the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2018, he received the Top Research Scientist Award from the Academy of Sciences Malaysia for his research and publications.

Prof. Dr. Zulkiflee Abd Latif, FRISM is a Malaysian academic and researcher specializing in remote sensing, GIS, and geospatial artificial intelligence for tropical forest and environmental management. His work focuses on integrating multi-sensor data particularly UAV-based imagery (including hyperspectral) and LiDAR to deliver robust solutions for tree species classification, biomass and carbon stock estimation, and land use/land cover mapping in Peninsular Malaysia. He is actively engaged in postgraduate supervision, research mentoring, and developing decision-ready geospatial products that bridge scientific innovation and operational needs of environmental agencies. His professional interests emphasize rigorous methodology, reproducible analytics, and translating machine learning advances into measurable outcomes for sustainable natural resource management and SDG-aligned environmental monitoring.