I am a senior lecturer at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya. My expertise lies in climate change education, critical thinking, gamification in education, and science policy. Passionate about empowering youth through innovative pedagogy, I am now leading multiple funded projects such as Superhero Iklim, a gamified campus-wide climate action campaign, and research on enhancing students’ critical thinking skills for sustainable development.  As part of global interests in boosting Halal tourism through aritifical intelligence, I am currently leading a funded project by the Japan Foundation developing a sustainable smart halal tourism framework for South East Asia. I am also a recipient of the UN SDGs Open Pedagogy Fellowship (Asia Chapter), and serves on the National STEM Association committee. My work has been recognized with international awards for teaching innovation, and regularly contributes to public engagement programs on environmental education and sustainability.

Dr. Asmak Ab Rahman is a Professor at the Department of Shariah and Economics, Academy of Islamic Studies, Universiti Malaya (UM). She holds a PhD in Islamic Economics, as well as a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Shariah from UM. As an expert in Islamic economics and finance, Dr. Asmak’s research covers various areas, with particular emphasis on Islamic insurance, Islamic finance, Islamic banking, Islamic social finance, and Shariah.Throughout her career, Dr. Asmak has held several prestigious positions. She has served as the Head of the Department of Shariah and Economics at the Academy of Islamic Studies, Universiti Malaya. She currently serves as the Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation, Academy of Islamic Studies, Universiti Malaya, and is also a Committee Member of the Universiti Malaya Zakah Fund. In addition, she contributes her expertise to academic publishing as a Managing Editor and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the faculty journal, Jurnal Syariah.Her expertise is widely recognised within the Islamic finance industry. She currently serves as a Shariah Committee Member for Affin Islamic Bank Berhad, FWD Takaful, and Permodalan Usahawan Nasional Berhad. Previously, she served on the Shariah Committees of Tabung Haji (1 May 2016 – 30 April 2025), Ambank Islamic (1 July 2011 – 30 June 2022), SME Bank (1 April 2011 – 30 June 2022), Hong Leong MSIG Takaful (1 March 2014 – 31 March 2023), BIMB Investment (1 November 2008 – 31 March 2022), and AIA AFG Takaful (1 November 2011 – 1 November 2013).Dr. Asmak is a prolific scholar with numerous publications in books, book chapters, and academic journals. Her most recent book, Higher Education Finance and Islamic Endowments, was published by Routledge. She has a Scopus H-Index of 14 and a Web of Science (WOS) H-Index of 13. She has secured multiple research grants from government and industry sources. Under her supervision, 38 PhD students have successfully completed their studies and are now serving in various institutions locally and internationally.She is a member of the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance (ASAS) and the International Council of Islamic Finance Educators (ICIFE). Additionally, she is a registered Shariah Advisor with the Securities Commission Malaysia.

Lucas Low VL received his bachelor’ degree in Biodiversity Management with first-class honours from the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu in 2010. He then earned his PhD with ‘distinction thesis’ from the University of Malaya (UM) in 2013, for his studies on the molecular and biochemical basis of insecticide resistance in medically important group of mosquitoes. Currently, he is the Executive Director and an associate professor at Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), a Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) in Malaysia. His current research interests include insect vectors of medical-veterinary importance such as mosquitoes, flies, ticks, fleas, lice and mites; and their associated infectious disease agents. In his scientific career, he has been fortunate to work under the mentorship of the world-renowned black fly taxonomist, Prof. Emeritus Dr. Hiroyuki Takaoka for the discovery of new species and taxonomic classification of black flies in the Oriental region. At present, he owned taxonomic authorities for 11 new species of black flies discovered in Southeast Asia. In recognition of his research excellence in vector-borne diseases, and significant advancement in molecular phylogenetics and systematics of black flies, two new species of black flies Simulium vanluni from Malaysia, and Simulium lowi from Vietnam were named after him in 2017. In March 2020, he organized and chaired the 3rd Asian Simuliidae Symposium which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His expertise in the field of insecticide resistance is recognized by the Malaysian Ministry of Health. He has been appointed as a member of the Technical Working Committee for Insecticide Resistance, which aims to provide mitigation plans against insecticide resistance issue throughout the country. He was also appointed as a consultant for testing commercial mosquito repellent products in a private company. His reputation has convinced local and international funders. Notably, he is the principal investigator for the Tick Cell Biobank Asia Outpost project funded by the prestigious research foundation, Wellcome Trust (2022-2026). The Asia Outpost (the only one in Asia) provides insect cell line resources and training to fellow researchers in Asia. His role is important in increasing regional capacity in the implementation of research in tick-borne diseases. He is also the principal investigator of the black fly DNA barcode project in Southeast Asia funded by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Denmark (2021-2023). His role is to establish and strengthen black fly biodiversity information facilities and increase the capacity of researchers in Asia in accessing data needed for biodiversity management. He has strong research networks in both local and international institutions and has authored more than 180 articles in ISI-indexed journals. He has been a reviewer of several world-leading scientific journals. He is an Associate Editor of Tropical Biomedicine and a Section Editor of Parasitology Research, both of which are the WoS indexed journals. He is an active member of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (MSPTM). Currently, he serves as the President for the society.  He shows high commitment in educational activities, as well social responsibility in increasing the level of public awareness of vector-borne diseases. He is involved in various talks to raise awareness among students, Orang Asli, pet owners and the general public at disease outbreak areas. He is also a facilitator in the development of national biosafety and biosecurity policies and guidelines. Since 2018, he has successfully supervised 6 Master’s and 9 PhD students to completion. Currently, he is supervising 14 postgraduate students. He received the Certificate of Excellent Service in 2018 and the Excellence Service Award in 2019 from Universiti Malaya. In 2020, he was awarded the Nadchatram Medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to parasitology and tropical medicine. He is also listed among the world’s top 2% scientists in the field of tropical medicine (2025).