Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor of Political Ecology at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya. Her areas of expertise include transboundary haze governance in Southeast Asia and global palm oil politics. Her monograph on “The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Politics” was published by Routledge in 2016. Her latest book is a collection of essays on the politics of haze and the environment in Southeast Asia called “The Forests for the Palms” published by ISEAS Singapore in 2021. Dr Helena has almost two decades of experience in qualitative research, including conducting fieldwork, interviews, and focus groups among various government and non-government stakeholders, and has built up extensive research networks in countries across ASEAN. She has edited and produced reports for the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, UNICEF, and the ASEAN Secretariat.

Dr. Mohd Nashrul Mohd Zubir received his B. Eng. (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering from University of Malaya (UM) in 2006. Upon graduation, he spent a short stint in SONY EMCS Malaysia as Design Engineer. He was then offered a scholarship under SLAB/SLAI fellowship program to pursue his postgraduate study in Monash University Australia where he obtained his MSc in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2010. Upon returning to Malaysia he further pursued his Ph.D. in heat transfer discipline at UM under similar scholarship program by which he was awarded the degree in 2015. Currently, he is an Associate Professor with University of Malaya (UM). His research interest spans from active and passive heat transfer enhancement, nanomaterial synthesis for heat transfer and gas separation applications, solar based renewable energy to fouling mitigation and desalination system. Dr. Nashrul currently has more than 110 ISI publications which mostly under Tier 1 and 2 ranking. 

Interdisciplinary scholar with a Ph.D. in Social and Behavioural Science—Sociology and Cultural Studies, with a focus on gender. My research engages feminist and decolonial methodologies to explore gender, power, and governance in post-colonial African contexts, with a focus on rural and indigenous communities, youth agency, and social justice. I have conducted fieldwork-driven research, contributed to policy dialogues, and collaborated on interdisciplinary studies in diverse feminisms and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS).Alongside my academic work, I bring over a decade of experience in civil society, multilateral institutions, and international governance spaces across more than 20 countries. I am committed to bridging academia and activism through knowledge production that informs policy, practice, and inclusive governance.