The people behind the project

Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya. Her areas of expertise include transboundary haze, land use change governance in Southeast Asia, and the global politics of palm oil and climate change. Her monograph, “The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Politics”, was published by Routledge in 2016.

Dr Matthew Ashfold is a Professor in the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. His research interests encompass various aspects of atmospheric and climate science, often in the context of tropical Asia. Current research priorities include the impacts of climate change on air pollution and co-emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

Ms Sharon Seah is Senior Fellow and Coordinator at the ASEAN Studies Centre and the Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme at the ISEAS - Yusuf Ishak Institute. Her research interests include ASEAN, multilateralism, the rule of law, and climate change. Ms Seah graduated with a Master’s in Public and International Law from the University of Melbourne in 2018. She is the lead author of The State of Southeast Asia Survey Report and the Southeast Asia Climate Outlook Survey Report.

Dr Gusti Anshari is a Professor at the Soil Science Department and Environmental Science post-graduate studies at Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. He obtained a PhD in Geography and Environmental Science from Monash University, Australia. He has worked as a tropical peatland researcher for the last 26 years. He was a lead author of Chapter 2 of the IPCC AR-6 report. In addition to research on tropical peatland formation, carbon stocks and anthropogenic disturbances on tropical peatlands, he also served the government of Indonesia to conduct peatland restoration and conservation.

Dr Alex Lechner is a landscape ecologist and Professor at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China, within the College of Resources and Civil Engineering and adjunct Professor at Monash University Indonesia. His research focuses on developing methods to support sustainable planning and participatory decision-making through novel spatial approaches, including ecosystem services modelling, wildlife connectivity analyses, remote sensing and participatory web-based GIS mapping.

Dr Asdiah is a doctoral graduate of Universiti Malaya. Her areas of expertise include refugees, diasporas, brain drain, and civil society. She has gained valuable research and teaching experience, as well as professional experience in the Malaysian government, international organisations and business. She is particularly interested in issues related to migration, especially among Malaysians, and is passionate about environmental issues.

Ms Nurisa is an Environmental Geography graduate. Her research interests revolve around hydrology, environmental conservation and community development. She has gained professional experience as a consultant in the Indonesian government. With her aptitude for modelling hydrology, she has contributed to several projects.

Ms Fatima is a Senior Lecturer of Economics in the Study Program of Management, Universitas Pancasila, Jakarta, and currently a PhD student at the Department of Economics, Universiti Malaya. Her areas of expertise include development economics, international trade, institutional economics and sustainable development. She has been involved in grant research in collaboration with the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Indonesia.

Shiva Prasad Das is a Graduate Research Assistant at Universiti Malaya and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the Faculty of Business and Economics. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Business Analytics. His work with the project focuses on website development, digital design and visual communication, including the development of the current SEAPEAT website and conference posters. His interests also include information design and communicating sustainability-related ideas through accessible digital and visual formats.