Dr. Goh Boon Tong is a professor in the Department of Physics, Universiti Malaya, where currently serves as the Deputy Dean, Institute for Advanced Studies and the Deputy Head of the Low Dimensional Materials Research Center. He earned his PhD in 2012 with a thesis titled “Layer-by-Layer Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition of Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films”. His primary research interests focus on the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials, including one-dimensional structures (nanowires, nanotubes, and nanorods), two-dimensional materials (graphene and metal carbides), and metallic nanoparticles. Dr. Goh has obtained numerous prestigious awards, both locally and internationally. These include the MASS 2001 Awards (Best Thesis Awards for Final Year Project of Undergraduate Science) from MASS Malaysia, the Excellence Award 2012 (for PhD candidates with the highest impact publications in the sciences) from the Universiti Malaya, the Newton Advanced Fellowship 2016, the Outstanding Researcher in Materials under the Science Discipline Award from the Venus International Foundation, the 2020 Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM) Award from the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, as well as several conference awards. He has secured many local and international research grants and holds 6 filed patents. Dr. Goh also has been appointed to various academic and professional roles, including adjunct professor, visiting professor, visiting scientist, session chair at international conferences, editorial members and associate editors of journals, PhD thesis examiners by universities worldwide. To date, he has published over 235 peer-reviewed papers, with a total of nearly 3, 400 citations (h-index = 30) according to Google Scholar, and more than 156 refereed papers with nearly 2, 600 citations (h-index = 26) according to Publons Web of Science.

Dr. Loh Kar Hoe (K.-H. L.) is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), University of Malaya. He graduated with a B.Sc. majoring in aquaculture before pursuing his research in fish reproductive for his M.Sc. in NTOU, Taiwan. He obtained his Ph.D. in Fisheries Science from the NTOU in 2009 for doctoral work on taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of moray eels (Mureanidae). After his Ph.D., he spent one year at the Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan as a postdoctoral researcher. He joined IOES July 2011 as a research fellow. He’s team have discovery eight new species eels (Gymnothorax pseudokidako 2021, Gymnothorax pseudomelanosomatus 2015, Neenchelys gracilis 2015, Pylorobranchus hoi 2012, Gymnothorax melanosomatus 2011, Uropterygius oligospondylus 2008, Gymnothorax taiwanensis 2008, Gymnothorax shaoi 2007), and a lot of new recorded fish from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Japan, and Taiwan. In addition to studying Malaysian fish otoliths, he is also working on the fisheries assessment work on sharks and rays. A total of 47 ISI articles have been published, and 26 technical reports of the IUCN Sciaenidae Red List assessments in 2020. He has collaborative research on the genetic diversity, population genetics of marine organisms; Reef fish diversity and abundance in Malaysian water through DNA barcoding and eDNA in Malaysia. Another study focuses on microplastics in the gill and stomach of fish. He recently secured a research grant to “Resolving systematics of Cephalopods using morphological and molecular approaches in Malaysia”, and “Environment DNA matebarcoding illuminates the diversity of sharks and rays” funded by WWF-Malaysia.