Dr. Soh Aik Chin FAsc

Contact Details :
AAR-UNMC Biotechnology Research Centre, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia.

Tel. : 6-03- 87273275
Fax : –
E-mail : sohac28@gmail.com

Consultant to AAR BioTech laboratory at AAR_UNMC, Nothingham in Bangi, Selangor. Prior to that, he was Consultant to AAR Tissue Culture laboratory in Ijok, Kuala Selangor from 2006 until 2008.

Dr Soh is a leading oil palm breeder and geneticist of international standing. He was Head of Agricultural Research at Applied Agricultural Resources Sdn. Bhd., a plantation R&D company owned jointly by two large plantation companies, Boustead Plantations Bhd. and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. He obtained his B.Agric.Sc.(Hons) in 1971 from University of Malaya where he was awarded the Malaysian Rubber Fund Board Scholarship and the Varsity Senior Scholarship. After graduation he joined Felda Agricultural Research Centre as a cocoa agronomist for two years. Dr. Soh then returned to his alma mater to pursue the M.Agric.Sc, in plant breeding/genetics on a tutorship. After lecturing for a year in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Malaya, he left to pursue his Ph.D. at Oregon State University on an International Student Scholarship and a teaching assistantship. Upon his return to Malaysia in 1979, he joined Highlands Research Unit as an oil palm breeder/geneticist, a profession he continued in with his present employer since 1987.

Over the years, Dr. Soh has developed: (1) the Dumpy-AVROS semi-dwarf oil palm hybrid variety which facilitates harvesting and extends the economic life of the crop, (2) the Dumpy.Yangambi.AVROS hybrid variety with improved high yield potential besides the dwarfing advantages, and (3) high yielding clones from tissue culture, with strong support from his capable tissue culture and plant breeding teams. These varieties have made and continue to make significant economic impact on the oil palm industry.

For his achievements and contributions, Dr. Soh was the winner of the Malaysia Toray Science Foundation 2005 Science & Technology Outstanding Scientist Award, the first from the private sector since the inception of the Award (2 awards per year) in 1994. He has also recently been elected as a Fellow in the Academy of Sciences of Malaysia, a very select fraternity of about 150 scientists.

Dr. Liew Kon Wui

Contact Details :
90, Lorong Batu Uban Satu, Century Garden, 11700 Gelugor, Pulau Penang, Malaysia.

Tel. : (04)-657 2398 / 012-564 3660
Fax : –
E-mail : liew_wui@streamyx.com / liew.konwui@gmail.com

Dr. Liew last served as an Associate Professor (Contract) in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Penang, Malaysia from 2003 -2006 before he joined AAR for a one-year contract as Consultant.

Dr. Liew graduated with a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from University of Hawaii in 1978 and he has provided research grants and cousultancies in multi national companies like Merck, Mattel, Petronas and etc. in various capacities. He has written and publised many papers on topics which ranged from leaf infection by Helminthosporium maydis on grain yield of maize, Genetic improvement of pisang berangan through in-vitro mutation breeding to distribution of hydrocarbon utilizing microorganisms and many more.

Currently, his research is centered on the following plant pathogens :

i. Basal Stem Rot in Oil Palm – Genetics of virulence and role of basidiospores in disease epidemiology of the primary pathogen, Ganoderma boninense. Investigations of possible development of a Ganoderma species complex in the plantation pathosystem.

ii. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense : Biological variability of both the banana host plant and the fungal wilt pathogen that causes the destructive Panama Disease. Genetics of hostplant-pathogen interaction and screening for resistance in land races and somaclonal variants of the banana plants. Use of endophytic avirulent F. oxysporum for conferring cross-protection disease resistance/tolerance/

iii. Cladosporium musae and Leaf Freckle Disease on Berangan bananas and selection for disease resistance.

iv. Pseudomonas solanacearum : Studies on the pathogenic variability of the bacterial pathogen, as well as studying the antagonistic soil microflora and bacteriocin-producing strains to determine the role of plasmids and possible genetic manipulation for biological control.

Professor Jeremy Roberts

Contact Details :
Head of School of Biosciences, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Head of Department, Academic, Room A03 Plant Sciences, Sutton Bonington
LE12 5RD

Tel. : 0115 951 6339
Fax : 0115 951 6334
E-mail : jeremy.roberts@nottingham.ac.uk
Website : http://genomics.nottingham.ac.uk/~Zoe/pslab/Roberts/

Contact Details :
Glebe House
Broadwell, Lechlade
Glos. GL7 3QS , United Kingdom

Tel. : (44-1367) 860 436
Fax : (44-1367) 860-436
E-mail : bernard.tinker@plant-sciences.oxford.ac.uk

Consultant on matters regarding administration and research since 1986. He is a soil scientist from United Kingdom (UK) who is known worldwide for his expertise in oil palm production. He was for 7 years at the West African Institute for Oil Palm Research. He was on the Programme Advisory Committee of PORIM (currently known as MPOB) for 12 years . In the UK he has been Professor of Agricultural Botany, Deputy Director and head of soils at Rothamsted Experimental Station, and Director of Science at the National Environment Research Council.