IOES Bulletin

5th Issue

IOES Bulletin

Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences,
Universiti Malaya

1. Director’s message

2. IOES Postgraduates Seminar Series

3. Annual Science Day of
GlobalSeaweedSTAR

4. Webinar Understanding Flora from
Aquatic Ecosystems: Towards better
Conservation & Sustainable Use

5. IOES Webinar on UNITED NATIONS
Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable
Development

6. World Ocean Day webinar - Our Oceans
Our Life: The Science We Need to
Reverse Coral Reef Degradation

7. HICoE Performance Monitoring
Workshop (Phase II Year 2)

8. Reskilling and Up skilling Course
during Total Lockdown

9. SAMUDERA-Journal of Maritime and
Coastal Studies (SAMUDERA-JMCS)

10. IOES Festive wishes

https://ioes.um.edu.my Issue 5

Directors’ corner:

Welcome on board the fifth issue of
IOES bulletin

2021 has been a very special year to us since it remarks the
beginning of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for
Sustainable Development (2021-2030). As one of the marine
research institute in Malaysia, IOES is hoping to fulfill the vision
of the decade by strategize our effort in research works together
with our collaborative partners. Two webinars were specially
conducted to celebrate the ocean: "IOES Webinar on UNITED
NATIONS Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development"
and “Our Ocean Our Life: The Science We Need to Reverse Coral
Reef Degradation” which has attracted hundreds of participants
from local and international institutions, as well as from
industries and public.

In this issue, we highlighted activities conducted during January
to June 2021 that involves various stakeholders including
government agencies, research institutions, industries, schools
and communities. We really appreciate overwhelming responses
from the participants although all activities need to be conducted
virtually, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we are now facing Phase One of the movement control under
the National Recovery Plan (PPN), some research works might be
delayed due to fieldworks and experiments cannot be completed
within the scheduled time frame. However, by getting vaccinated
and slowly produce herd immunity, we sincerely hope that we can
win on battle against COVID-19 infections and can continue
resume our normal routine life.

Stay Safe,

Professor Dr. Sumiani Yusoff

IOES Director

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IOES Postgraduate Seminar Series

IOES Postgraduate Seminar Series is a
special initiatives by IOES to provide
platform to all IOES postgraduates
students to boost their confidence by
sharing their research work to the public.
Through this seminar, the students learn
how to enhance their presentation and
communications skills to different types of
audience. The students also actively engage
with participants during Q & A sessions.

Four seminars has been conducted from
January and we would like to thank all
participants who attended the seminar
series for their overwhelming response.
More postgraduate seminar series are
planned. Stay tuned!

Involved different topic Inaugural
postgraduate seminar
of research works:
• Sea urchins series: 27 Jan 2021
Second series:
• Sea anemones 30 March 2021
• Marine fungi

Via Google Meet More than 120
platform participants attended

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How I trolled Spiny
Photosynthesis in a Underwater Gardeners
marine animal: The Miss Mok Man Ying
magnificent sea anemone (Master of Philosophy)
(Heteractis magnifica) Supervisors:
Miss Raveena Kumarasamy Dr Jillian Ooi Lean Sim,
(Master of Philosophy) Mr Affendi Yang Amri,
Supervisors: Prof Dr Norma Che Yusoff
Dr Nuradilla Mohamad Fauzi
Dr Kishneth Palaniveloo The world is getting warmer!
Prof Dr Normaniza Osman P/S: Fungi understand it too
Mr Affendi Yang Amri Mdm Nurlizah Abu Bakar
(PhD)
Marine Fungi: The elusive Supervisors:
ally of hard corals Assoc Prof Dr Siti Aisyah Alias
Mr Lee Li Chuen Prof Dr Saiful Anuar Karsani
(Master of Philosophy)
Supervisors: 3
Dr. Mohammed Rizman bin
Idid
Assoc Prof Dr Siti Aisyah
Alias
Dr Kishneth Palaniveloo

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Annual Science Day of
GlobalSeaweedSTAR

IOES UM with their collaborative partners from United Kingdom, Philippines
and Tanzania has jointly organized and celebrated Annual Science Day for
GlobalSeaweedSTAR Programme on 19,20,22, 26 and 28 Jan 2021. This event was
filled with research work presentation and discussion on the direction of
GlobalSeaweedSTAR programme for 2021.

Each institutions presented their work progress for the year 2020, key findings
and upcoming plans for the year 2021.

In addition to that, partner institutions also presented on how the
GlobalSeaweedSTAR project has made an impact on the capacity building at the
institutional and personal levels.

On the final day of the event, an interdisciplinary discussion was carried out to
strategize on the global policy brief which will be a key legacy of this project and
aims to provide recommendations to safeguard the future of seaweed industry in
developing countries.

Collaborators

• Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), United Kingdom:
Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Cottier-Cook, Prof. Dr. Claire Gachon, Dr. Iona
Campbell, Dr Janina Brakel, Dr Martina Strittmatter

• Natural History Museum (NHM), UK:
Prof. Juliet Brodie, Dr Georgia Ward, Dr Marit Bjorbaekmo

• Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK:
Louise Shaxson, Dr. Virginie Le Masson

• University of Philippines Visayas, Philippines:
Dr. Anicia Hurtado, Rema Sibonga, Jonalyn Mateo, Jee Grace Suyo, Victor
Marco Emmanuel Ferriols

• SEAFDEC, Philippines: Joseph Faisan Jr., Maria Rovilla Luhan

• University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania:
Dr. Flower Msuya, Dr. Amelia Burriyo, Sadock Rusekwa, Ivy Motoju, Msafiri
Andrew Ndawala

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Webinar Understanding Flora from
Aquatic Ecosystems: Towards better

Conservation & Sustainable Use

The Institute of Ocean and Earth

Sciences (IOES), Universiti Malaya and

the Department of Botany,

Deshbandhu College, University of Objectives:

Delhi, India had jointly organized an 1. To provide knowledge and insight
of research works related to the
international webinar entitled conservation, restoration and
sustainable use of flora of aquatic
"Understanding Flora from Aquatic ecosystems to the students,
researchers as well as faculty
Ecosystem: Towards Better members.

Conservation & Sustainable Use" on 26- 2. To establish better networking
between the Institute of Ocean and
28 March 2021. IOES was responsible to Earth Sciences, Universiti Malaya and
Deshbandhu College, University of
provide the relevant speakers and Delhi, India towards future research
collaborations.
marine related topics, whereas the

University of Delhi focused on the

freshwater and terrestrial

environmental topics. This

collaboration made the webinar more

comprehensive and appealing to a

much wider audience . More than 200

participants followed the online

webinar.

Several IOES academic staff were also The output of this jointly organised
involved in this webinar as coordinator webinar was to allow for better
(Dr Mohammed Rizman Idid) and co- networking and explore potential
conveners (Dr Sahadev Sharma, Dr Wee research collaboration between both
Cheah and Dr Kishneth Palanivedoo). universities that will enhance UM's
standing in the international scientific
arena, especially in marine
conservation. As the webinar was well
received, both organizers look forward
to hold similar webinars in future.

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Six distinguished speakers from four different institutions were invited to
share their knowledge and experience on respective research areas.

More than 200 participants from various countries attended the 3-days
webinar "Understanding Flora from Aquatic Ecosystem: Towards Better

Conservation & Sustainable Use"

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IOES Webinar on UNITED

NATIONS Decade of Ocean Science

for Sustainable Development

The United Nations Decade of IOES with FIO-UM Joint Center of Marine
Ocean Science for Sustainable Science and Technology and Ministry of
Development is a unique Environment and Water, Malaysia has
opportunity to engage the ocean successfully organised a webinar titled "IOES
science community in achieving Webinar on UNITED NATIONS Decade of
the Sustainable Development Ocean Science for Sustainable Development"
Goals - globally, regionally and on 30 March 2021 via Zoom Webinar. This
locally - Vladimir Ryabinin webinar was conducted in conjunction with
(Executive Secretary of the the launching of United Nations (UN) Decade
Intergovernmental of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
Oceanographic Commission of (2021-2030) and is part of a build-up program
UNESCO). The vision for Ocean with the Ministry of Environment and Water,
Decade is The Ocean Decade Malaysia. Prof Minhan Dai (Xiamen
harnesses, stimulates and University, China) and Prof Dato' Dr Azizan
coordinates interdisciplinary Abu Samah (IOES, UM) was invited to present
research efforts at all levels, in their research work and shared their opinions.
order to generate and use Almost 130 participants attended this webinar
knowledge for the which consisted of researchers, students and
transformational action needed public from local and international
to achieve a healthy, safe, and institutions, government agencies, IPTAs,
resilient ocean for sustainable IPTS, school and industries.
development by 2030 and

beyond.

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Prof Dr Minhan Dai (Director, State Key Laboratory of Marine
Environmental Science, Xiamen University, China) and Prof Dato'

Dr Azizan Abu Samah (IOES) sharing their expertise and
knowledge during the webinar.

In addition, Prof Dr Sumiani Yusoff
(IOES Director) was invited to share her
opinion regarding Malaysia's agenda on
"“UN Decade of Ocean Science for
Sustainable Development 2021-2030” on a
live television show "Selamat Pagi
Malaysia", RTM on 30 March 2021 in
conjunction with the programme
launching of United Nations (UN)
Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable
Development (2021-2030) by the Ministry
of Environment and Water, Malaysia.

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Our Oceans Our Life
The Science We Need to Reverse

Coral Reef Degradation

World Ocean Day is celebrated annually around the world on 8th of June. This
year's theme is "The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods".

The purpose of the World Ocean Day is to inform the public of the impact from
human activities and actions towards the ocean, develop a worldwide
movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s
population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans.

This webinar “Our Ocean Our Life: The Science We Need to Reverse Coral Reef
Degradation” was organized to celebrate World Oceans Day on the 8th of June
2021, in conjunction with the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for
Sustainable Development (2021-2030), and United Nations Decade on
Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and UN SDGs. This webinar was co-
organised with Project PULIH and had successfully attracted more than 100
participants from local and international institutions as well as from industry.
Participants were actively engaged and had many interesting interactions
during Q & A session.

The panel of speakers were from three
active groups in coral restoration research
in Malaysia and generously shared their
knowledge and experience with the
participants. The speakers were:

i) Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein, Borneo
Marine Research Institute, Universiti
Malaysia Sabah (Marine Ecologist)
'A Rapid Coral Relocation Effort in
Sapangar Bay'
ii) Affendi Yang Amri, Universiti Malaya
(Coral Reef Ecologist)
'The Science of Coral Rehabilitation by
Project PULIH'
iii) Sebastian Szereday, Coral-Ku
'Coral Trees & Clips: Techniques for
Scalable Coral Reef Restoration in
Terengganu'

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Mr Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein, Mr Sebastian Szereday and Mr Affendi Yang Amri
presented their work on coral restoration research during the webinar “Our Ocean
Our Life: The Science We Need to Reverse Coral Reef Degradation” on 8 June 2021 at

Facebook LIVE ‘Project PULIH’

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The panel speakers were actively engaged with the participants during the Q&A
session while moderated by Dr Jillian Ooi and Dr Nuradilla Mohamad Fauzi.

Interview with TV station

Prof Dr Sumiani Yusoff (IOES Director) and Prof Dato' Dr Azizan Abu
Samah (Head, Air-Ocean-Land Interaction Studies and Climate Change
Research Unit) were invited to Astro Awani on 8 June 2021, 10 pm to discuss
on how oceans sustain our life & livelihoods.

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HICoE Performance Monitoring

Workshop (Phase II Year 2)

The Second Year Performance Monitoring Workshop as the Higher
Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) was successfully
conducted virtually on 8 June 2021 from 2 - 5 pm. The monitoring
duration was from 1 Jan 2020 to 31 March 2021 and the panel
evalutors are Emeritus Prof Dato' Dr Mohd Ikram Mohd Said, Prof
Dato' Dr Mohamad Isa Abdul Majid and Prof Dato' Dr Saharuddin
Abdul Hamid. IOES Director and all Principal Investigators from
three HICoE programmes defended their achievements and the
comments from the panels was taken seriously for future
improvements. Five main aspects were evaluated which are human
capital development, high impact publications, innovation/
expected output, collaboration & networking and research grants.

Programme 1: AIR – 1.1 Deep convection,
OCEAN INTERACTIONS transboundary air pollution
and its variability

2.1 Towards alleviating the impacts
of harmful algal blooms under
a changing climate

2.2 Revealing the impact of Programme 2: AIR-LAND-
anthropogenic activities
under changing climate on BIOTA INTERACTIONS

microbial community in

aquatic environments

2.3 Production and emission of
halocarbons from marine algae
during climate change

Programme 3: RESPONSE 3.1 Fungal response to interactions
AND ADAPTATION OF between parameters
BIOTA TO CLIMATE AND (environmental stressors) based
OCEAN on the omics approach

3.2 Response and adaptation of algae
to ocean and climate changes
through omics approach

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Reskilling and Up skilling Course
during Total Lockdown

University Management has made it mandatory for all staff except for
the essential service to Work From Home (WFH) in line with the
Government's announcement regarding the implementation of full
closure of the social and economic sectors or 'total lockdown' Phase
One throughout country for a period of 14 days from 1 June 2021 to 30
June 2021.

Accordingly, as a value-added initiative to current staff during this 'total
lockdown' period, the University Management has agreed that all
Executive staff and Operations Staff covering all Service schemes and
post grades to attend training/courses for fifteen (15) to twenty (20)
hours a week online.

Therefore, IOES has proposed several trainings and capacity building
which would enhance the staff's knowledge and awareness. These
training includes collaboration with industry and from IOES staff itself.

Product Presentation for BBE Chlorophyll Classes Identification (Zoom meeting) by
Surechem Sdn. Bhd., 16 June 2021, 10 am - 12 pm
Speaker: Mr Elwin Kuan
Objective:To introduce the scientific instruments for detecting and collecting
chlorophyll measurement and water quality

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Make Productivity Happen - Optimizing your GC System and enabling
productivity in your GC work flow by Agilent Technologies USA and Orbiting
Scientific & Technology Sdn Bhd., 18 June 2021, 11 am - 12 pm

Speaker: Ms Vanessa Abercrombie (GC Applications Chemist, Agilent
Technologies USA)

Objective:GC Columns & supplies- How to tell if you are using the right or wrong
ones for your analysis, through troubleshooting techniques, how to reduce your
analysis time and how to improve the efficiency of your analysis

Fatty acid and FAME analysis for Vegetable Oil Applications by Agilent
Technologies USA and Orbiting Scientific & Technology Sdn Bhd, 23 June 2021,
2 – 3 pm
Speaker: Gustavo Serrano (Global Product Manager- GC Columns, Agilent
Technologies USA)
Objective: Introducing some new GC column technology from Agilent for the fast
analysis of FAME and discussion on the GC column selection based on analysis.

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Sistem E-Procurement Asas, 17 June 2021, 10 am - 11 am

Speaker: Miss Raihana Mohd Rashid (IOES Administrative Officer)

This course expose participants to the basics of the procurement process based on
the guidelines of university procurement procedures and how to use the E
Procurement system to implement the procurement process.

Care & Maintenance of Essential Equipment in Laboratory - Micropipette &
Autoclave, 21 June 2021, 10 am – 12 pm

Speaker: Prof Dr Lim Phaik Eem (IOES Deputy Director)

This course exposes participants to the theory and basic applications for
micropipette and autoclave equipment. .

Cara Penghasilan Baja Kompos daripada Sisa Makanan, 21 June 2021, 3 - 5 pm
Speaker: Prof Dr Sumiani Yusoff (IOES Director)
This course exposes participants the importance of food waste management to the
environment. Participants were also briefed on the basic of biochemical processes
in composting food waste as well as the steps to carry out the composting process.

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Laboratory Hazard and Risk Assessment (Sharing Session),

23 June 2021, 10 am - 12 pm

Speaker: Dr Hii Kieng Soon (IOES Research Officer)

This course exposes participants on better understanding of how to identify hazards
and assess risks in the laboratory. Participants were also briefed on how to prepare
the Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC) document.

Webinar: Promoting Circular Economy through Waste Conversion to Resource,
28 June 2021, 3 – 5.30 pm
Speaker: Prof Dr Sumiani Yusoff (IOES Director)
This course exposes participants to the importance of environmental care as
well as the problem of environmental pollution that occurs in Malaysia and
other countries. Participants were also exposed to some examples of existing
technologies in the solid waste management sector. In addition, the concept of
circular economy and examples of solid waste management activities in line
with circular economy are also presented.

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SAMUDERA-Journal of Maritime and

Coastal Studies (SAMUDERA-JMCS)

SAMUDERA-Journal of Maritime and Coastal Studies (SAMUDERA-JMCS) is an online
journal covering research activities in the broad area of maritime and coastal studies. The journal
provides authors with a more convenient and efficient process to communicate research findings
and discussions to the global maritime and coastal research community. The journal aims to
promote and amplify the voices and ideas of the research community, SAMUDERA-Journal of
Maritime and Coastal Studies will put your work at the heart of the conversations taking place in
the social science, humanities and scientific research community today.

A streamlined double-blind peer-review process, overseen by a panel of experts, ensures a fair
and regular publication experience. All published articles enable research results to be freely
communicated between authors and readers where the copyright of the original work remains
with the author.

The large Editorial Board of SAMUDERA-Journal of Maritime and Coastal Studies is
interdisciplinary and multinational which the journal will serve. This journal is a fully open
access format and enables the manuscripts to be easily accessed by other researchers. The
journal is free of charge, which the authors will only be responsible for managing their
manuscript copy editing with the suggested professional editor(s).

We welcome your submissions via the journal's submission and peer review website at
https://samudera.um.edu.my/ . Please visit the Journal’s website to learn more about this journal
at https://samudera.um.edu.my/about .

Editor-in-chief: Assoc Prof Dr Hanafi Hussin

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