Speakers

Professor Dr. Lim Phaik Eem is the Deputy Director of Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya.  She is one of the founder members and the current secretary of the Consortium of Southeast Asian Seaweed Taxonomy (SEASTax). She has published more than 150 publications. Her main research focus has been on algae since the 1990s. With the challenges facing in the carrageenan industries, especially lack of genetic diversity of cultivars of the eucheumatoids, she has initiated the study in Malaysia as well as in the Southeast Asian regions since the past 10 years and the research scope is expanded with her involvement in GCRF GlobalSeaweedSTAR programme, where problem-based multidisciplinary approach adopted to address several main issues affecting the seaweed cultivation and processing industries. These include detection of diseases and pests associated with the seaweed farming, farm management and legislation (biosecurity), conservation and exploration of genetically diverse seed stocks, and socio-economic resilience of the industry.

John Huisman received his Ph.D. from the University of Melbourne in 1986 and soon after moved to Western Australia, spending the majority of the 1990s at Murdoch University undertaking a variety of phycological research projects. John’s research has been primarily into the taxonomy of tropical seaweeds, an interest that began during his student years and flourished during a life-changing sojourn to the Hawaiian Islands in 2002-03. John is currently Curator at the Western Australian Herbarium, a position he has held since 2016. He has written over 200 scientific articles, plus numerous general interest articles on various aspects of seaweed biology. John has also written nine books, two of which were awarded the Prescott Award by the Phycological Society of America. John’s most recent book is the revised version of ‘Marine Plants of Australia’ (2019), which describes over 600 species, illustrated by in-situ colour images and numerous line drawings.