ASM FAScinate: June 2022

Mr Teoh Lay Hock is a Registered Professional Geologist with 50 years of working experience in the mineral resource industry. He spent the first 24 years of his career with the Geological Survey of Malaysia before venturing out to the industry, working in almost every sector in the mineral resource-based value chain, including exploration and mining, mineral processing, and mineral-based manufacturing, as well as mineral trading. Currently, Mr Teoh is based in the Malaysian Chamber of Mines and the Tin Industry (Research and Development) Board and freelances as a Geological and Mineral Business Consultant. He is an ASM Fellow, a Fellow of the Institute of Geology Malaysia and currently sits on the Board of Geologists Malaysia and Magic Mirror Resource Consulting Sdn Bhd.

Prior to working with the Geological Survey Department, Mr P. Loganathan worked with a private company in Singapore, doing oil-related consultancy work in Indonesia. Upon his retirement, he was appointed as the Southeast Asia Representative of Mitsubishi Materials Natural Resources Development Corporation Japan, as its Southeast Asian consultant for geothermal resources in Tawau, Sabah, and in Java, Indonesia. Then, he was employed by ASM where he assisted in various Science and Technology-related studies. Mr Loga’s vast experience and knowledge in the field of geological studies has earned him the respect and is highly sought after by various organisations and corporations. He is a Full Member of the Geological Society of Malaysia. Mr Loga was also appointed by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment to the first Board of Geologists. He was appointed a Registered Professional Geologist in 2016 by the Board of Geologists Malaysia. Most recently, he was appointed by ASM to be the Chief Writer for the Water Sector Transformation 2040 Study Reports. Mr Loga is here to expound on the science and technology behind groundwater – the hidden blue gold of the ages.

Dr Nursalwa Baharuddin is a malacologist, or a snail expert, and has spent a decade studying the diversity, ecology, physiology, and the effects of global climate change on marine snails in Malaysia, Brunei, and New Zealand. She is currently a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Faculty of Science and Marine Environment and Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. She is also a visiting scientist at the Faunal Biodiversity Program, Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Dr Nursalwa is an affiliate member of the Young Scientists Network–Academy of Sciences Malaysia. She is also the immediate past Co-Chair of Science@Media working group of YSN-ASM. Here is Dr Nursalwa to talk about the risks that coral reefs must face – global warming and coral-eating snails.

Dr Chee Su Yin is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Global Sustainability Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her research interests lie in developing new ways of making space for nature in human-dominated environments and using nature as solutions to environmental crises in the marine realm. Dr Chee and her team has a patent filed for the invention of eco-concrete for use in terrestrial and marine environments. Her team has been awarded with a Gold Medal and a Special Award from Haller Pro Inventio Foundation Poland for this invention. Dr Chee is a YSN-ASM affiliate, the Northern Node in the Malaysia Society of Marine Sciences, and a member of Water Watch Penang. Dr Chee will elaborate how ecological engineering can be instrumental in repairing our ailing coastlines.