Professor Dato’ Dr Azizan Abu Samah FASc is a professor in the field of Meteorology in the Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in University of Malaya. He is also the Director of the National Antarctic Research Centre and Deputy Director of the Institute of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the same university. He is currently one of the Vice President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and is on the editorial board of the Polar Journal. He was the Malaysian coordinator of an European Union research project SHIVA (Stratospheric ozone: Halogen Impacts in a Varying Atmosphere) and also a steering committee member of Asia Pacific Rim University World Institute Pacific Rim Cities Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies (APRU-CMAS) and is a member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee of Asian Network on Climate Science and Technology (ANCST). He has been invited to review research proposals for atmospheric sciences and environment for the Inbev-Baillet Latour Antarctica Fellowship and New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute research grant proposals. He is also an evaluator member for the Malaysian Ministry of Education Fundamental Research Grant Scheme and the Sultan Mizan Antarctic Research Foundation research grant and fellowship scheme. Professor Dato’ Dr Azizan Abu Samah is a fellow of the Malaysian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Meteorological Society, UK. He has published 4 books and a number of chapters in books. To date he has first author and co-author more than 63 journal articles in high impact journals such as Ocean Dynamics, International Journal of Climate and Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmosphere). He has an h index of 10 and a Researchgate score of 31.75 (source www.researchgate.net). His is an active researcher and is the principal investigator in a number of national and international research initiatives, working on air-sea interactions in the South China Sea, winter monsoon cold surges, severe Antarctic weather, tropical-polar teleconnection and climate change both in the tropics and the polar region. He has a broad fieldwork experience working in the Antarctic and also in the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca, setting up observational network such as a regional Global Atmospheric Watch in Malaysia, planning scientific cruises and building numerical modelling capacity in his research centres to simulate and forecast ocean and atmospheric processes in the tropics and Antarctic. He is also involved as an advisor in developing Malaysia’s polar policy and Antarctic Act.