INTERNATIONAL AWARDS FOR TWO MALAYSIAN FOREST RESEARCHERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Two Forest Research Institute Malaysia (Frim)
researchers will receive awards for their scientific works, at the 22nd
International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) World Congress in
Seoul next week.

They are Dr Nor Azah Mohammad Ali and Tnah Lee Hong.

Dr Nor Azah will be among 11 scientists worldwide to receive the IUFRO
Scientific Achievement Award at the opening ceremony of the congress on Monday.

Tnah Lee Hong, a research officer attached to the institute’s Genetic
Laboratory, will receive the Student Award for Excellence in Forest Sciences on
Tuesday. She is one of three winners in the category.

In a statement, FRIM said Dr Nor Azah, who is Frim Scientist of the Year 2009,
had 23 years of research experience in natural product chemistry specialising in
essential oil research related to forestry, agriculture and herbal industries.

As Frim Herbal Product Development Programme head, she leads a
multi-disciplinary research team actively involved in essential oil research, herbal
research and cosmeceutical product development.

The research areas covered by her team include essential oil extraction
technology, olfactory evaluation, chemical profiling, bioactivity and product
formulation.

She has filed three invention disclosures and won 12 innovation awards for her
research.

Some of her research work has been taken up and commercialised by the herbal
industries. Apart from product development, she is also directly involved in
agarwood (gaharu) research.

Tnah's research areas cover molecular markers technology, forensic forestry,
phylogeography and plant population genetics.

With her Master’s thesis on 'DNA fingerprint Databases of Chengal
(Neobalanocarpus heimii) for Forensic Forestry Investigations', she has
developed comprehensive databases, which are the first for tropical species.

The availability of DNA fingerprinting databases for the important timber
species in Malaysia will help enhance forestry enforcement officials’ capacity
to curb illegal logging.

Prior to this, several other Frim researchers received similar recognition for
their scientific works from IUFRO.

They included current Frim director-general Datuk Dr Abd Latif Mohmod, who
received the Scientific Achievement Award in 1995, Dr Lee Su See, the Scientific
Achievement Award (2000) and Dr Rahim Sudin, the Outstanding Doctoral Research
Award (2000).

Founded in 1892, IUFRO is a non-profit, non-governmental international network
of forest scientists, which aims to promote global cooperation in forest-related
research and enhance the understanding of the ecological, economic and social
aspects of forests.

It unites over 15,000 scientists in almost 700 member-organisations in over 110
countries.
-- BERNAMA