Conference Speakers

Dr. Nor Khaizura Mahmud @ Ab Rashid is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). She holds a Ph.D. in Food Microbiology from Massey University, New Zealand, and a Master of Science in Food Microbiology and Food Safety from UPM. With over 15 years of academic and research experience, Dr. Khaizura specializes in food microbiology, food safety, and shelf-life assessment, with a strong focus on microbial quality and contamination in food systems.

Her research encompasses microbial ecology in traditional and commercial food processing, development of food safety protocols, and the application of predictive microbiology in food quality assurance. She has led and collaborated on numerous nationally funded research projects and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Khaizura is an active member of several scientific organizations, including the Malaysian Society for Microbiology and the New Zealand Microbiological Society. She has received several academic and service excellence awards, reflecting her dedication to advancing food safety and microbiological research in Malaysia and beyond.

Prof. Fatiha Hakimi, PhD (Eng.) is an agronomist and Associate Professor at the Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, Rabat, Morocco, specializing in sustainable and resilient agricultural systems. Her work focuses on integrating agroecological principles with efficient resource management to support environmentally responsible and economically viable farming practices.

She holds a PhD from Ibn Zohr University (Morocco), a Master’s degree from the University of Catania (Italy), and an Agronomy Engineer diploma from the Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine. Her research addresses the sustainability of agricultural production systems, with particular emphasis on crop diversification, soil conservation, water efficiency, and optimized input management.

Prof. Hakimi’s research interests include farm sustainability assessment, agroecological practices, and the resilience of urban and peri-urban agriculture. She is actively involved in international scientific activities as a speaker, researcher, and committee member, and has supervised numerous academic theses. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and serves as a reviewer and editorial board member for several scientific publications.

Through her teaching, research, and collaborations, Prof. Hakimi is committed to advancing sustainable agrofood systems, supporting climate-resilient agriculture, and improving livelihoods—particularly within small-scale and resource-constrained farming communities.

Originally from the UK, Prof. Jenni completed her BSc in Microbiology at the University of Surrey, U.K. then was awarded a Whitbread Scholarship to pursue her PhD in molecular genetics at Cranfield University, U.K. also winning the Chancellors Gold Medal for the most outstanding graduate student. After post-doctoral fellowships at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF), and in Malaysia, she held positions at TropBio Research Sdn. Bhd., University Putra Malaysia and the Malaysia University of Science and Technology. Prof. Jenni is a Professor in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Programme under the Faculty of Science at the University of Malaya and was the  Director of the Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR) at the University of Malaya (2011-2025). Prof. Jenni also holds a current appointment as an Honorary Visiting Fellow in the Department of Genetics and Genome Biology at the University of Leicester, UK. Prof. Jenni’s current research interests are fundamental research and its application through biotechnology for use in agriculture, including the molecular genetics of tropical plants and the use of microbes to help crops deal with the effects of climate change.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosazlin Abdullah is a lecturer at the Institute of Biological Sciences (ISB), Universiti Malaya. She has over 15 years of experience in various national and international agricultural-environmental based projects and showing the most excellent research results in the field of sustainable soil management, one of the national challenges, and is leading the recent research trend in the field of biochar. She focused on advocating biochar as a promising material for soil amendment and role of biochar in mitigation of climate change. She currently serving as President of Malaysian Soil Science Society, National Focal Point for the Global Soil Partnership, Exco for Malaysian Professional Centre, Committee Member of Biochar Malaysia Association, Committee of urban neighborhood farm KL under The Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Technical Soil Quality Department of Standard Malaysia, Member of Association of Pacific Rim Universities Sustainable Waste Management (APRU SWM), Technical Committee Members, Center of Excellence for Soil Research in Asia (CESRA), and Members of the International Union of Soil Science. She has published publication in various International Scientific Journal. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed journals. According to Scopus, her h-index is 21 and she has received 2,423 citations. She is experienced in conducting various international conferences, workshops and transfer knowledge programme for students, farmers, industries and professional practitioners. Dr. Rosazlin’s multifaceted contributions showcase her as a dynamic figure in academia, research, and community engagement. She also been involved as a chairman of East-Southeast Asia Federation of Soil Societies conference 2022.

Dr. Christopher Teh earned his PhD in Agriculture from the University of Reading, UK in 2001, following his MSc and BSc degrees from Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. Since then, he has served in the Department of Land Management at UPM and currently holds the position of Associate Professor and Head of Department.
With over two decades of professional experience, Dr. Teh specializes in soil physics and conservation as well as crop modeling Omics Online Biography. He has authored or co‑authored numerous publications—including five books, seven book chapters, more than 40 journal articles, and nearly 100 conference proceedings—and is actively engaged in promoting urban gardening through workshops and newspaper columns.
Dr. Teh also holds roles outside academia, including Research Theme Associate at Crops for the Future Research Centre (University of Nottingham, Malaysia), and serves on editorial boards for several international journals in agriculture. He is widely recognized for his contributions to teaching excellence and applied research in environmental agriculture.