​Janice Ser Huay Lee 

Principle Investigator
​I am an Associate Professor at the Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The work I conducted for my PhD exposed me to the world of socio-ecological systems. Since then I have been identifying pertinent research questions related to rural land use and land cover change and investigating the consequences of these changes on biodiversity conservation and human livelihoods. I continue to work on research questions related to Southeast Asia's oil palm industry and have expanded my research interests to include food security concerns in Asia, fire activity in Sumatra, as well as ecosystem restoration processes in Asia.

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Chung-Wing Ko

PhD candidate
I am a PhD student at the Asian School of the Environment in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. My current work focuses on how land-use change affects tropical soils, roots, and microbes in Southeast Asia. Through this work, I rely on tools and techniques from soil biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, plant physiology, and genetics. I am particularly interested in how the accelerating rate of land conversion in the tropics will affect not only environmental shifts but also the lives and livelihoods of human actors in the region. I am passionate about environmental justice and hope to work more directly with local communities and stakeholders to center localised voices and applications in my research.

Pamela Devan

Research Fellow
​I am a Research Fellow at ASE, currently working on a project analysing drivers of policies pertaining to land use allocation, urban green spaces and unmanaged vegetation, and public/private housing in Singapore. I was trained as an urban sociologist, and have degrees from Boston University, the University of Chicago, and the National University of Singapore. My research interests lie in understanding how space and place shape human society and community, with a focus on Singapore. My past research projects include examining marginalised identity navigation processes in urban spaces, and urban housing relocation, and I have also taught undergraduate classes on urban sociology, sexualities, and housing and homes.

Yang Yajie

FYP student
I am an undergraduate student at NTU's Asian School of the Environment, currently conducting my final-year research project at the CHNS lab. My research interests lie in the intersection of human rights and sustainable production, and I will be exploring the rights to land and resources for Indigenous communities in Southeast Asia, particularly in the agricultural supply chain.​

Li Yang

FYP student
I am a Final Year student at the Asian School of the Environment, NTU Singapore, currently conducting a final-year research project in the CHNS Lab. My project focuses on the relationship between voluntary sustainability standards and climate action. These standards, often signified by certifications and labels, are used to indicate whether a product is sustainable and are commonly applied in the agricultural commodity sector. I’m interested in exploring whether and how these standards could contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation outcomes.

Chua Li-Ann

FYP student
Hi everyone, I’m Li-Ann, a Final Year Undergraduate student at NTU’s Asian School of the Environment, currently conducting my final-year research project under the CHNS Lab. My project focuses on identifying and understanding the various sustainability initiatives for independent smallholder palm oil in Indonesia. Specifically, I’m exploring the different types of initiatives, their structures, and the key factors driving their adoption and success.​

Remondah R. Ramzy

Research Fellow
Hi, I'm Remondah. I'm research fellow at the Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where I use life cycle assessments (LCA) to compare black soldier flies (BSF) footprint with the environmental footprints of conventional agricultural inputs and feed for livestock, and aquaculture in Singapore.
 
I developed my passion for role of invertebrates on environment based on the swift progress in my Master, PhD, and postdoctoral degrees. I was also fortunate enough to have served as a teaching for different level courses.
 
I have experience in biodiversity, rearing, taxonomy and the relation between invertebrates and environment. I am always looking for new and creative ways to study effect of invertebrates on environment.
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Jessie Qian Xintong

PhD student
I am a PhD student at the Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. My research focuses on evaluating corporate investments in landscape restoration across Southeast Asia, using remote sensing and spatial analysis to assess biodiversity recovery and ecosystem resilience. I aim to provide actionable insights to optimise restoration strategies and bridge the gap between corporate sustainability and ecological outcomes.
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Zu Dienle Tan

Research Fellow
Hi! I’m Zu, a research fellow under the Climate Transformation Program, working on topics related to fire risk, carbon loss, and tropical reforestation. I have a background in conservation and restoration ecology. My past research includes quantifying aboveground carbon in tropical forests using LiDAR and satellite technologies, as well as examining the drivers of peatland biomass burning and perceptions of restoration interventions in Indonesia. In particular, I am interested in employing interdisciplinary methods – such as combining social science research with spatial analyses – to improve environmental management.​

Geoff Lim

PhD student
I am a part-time PhD student with the Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. My passion for avian ecology and conservation biology stems from a lifelong love of birdwatching. As such, my research focuses on the impact of factors like land use, development policies, and climate change on avian population trends. Besides academia, I actively engage in citizen science initiatives with Nature Society Singapore through annual bird surveys and writing bird reports. I also participated in a year-long survey of a lowland rainforest habitat in southern Johor in 2019 with the Malayan Nature Society (Johor). With over three decades of experience as a civil servant in judicial administration, defence policy and law enforcement, I leverage on my background to inform conservation strategies. I also enjoy crafting conservation narratives through written and audiovisual media, aiming to spark wider public interest and foster a deeper connection to preserving nature's splendour.

Lab Alumni

Thuan Sarzynski
Thuan was a MSc. exchange student from the University of Hohenheim and worked on mapping oil palm plantations using optical and radar satellitel imagery on Google Earth Engine.
Jocelyne Shimin Sze
Jocelyne was a research associate and worked on compiling socioeconomic and spatial datasets on fire activity in Sumatra. Jocelyne graduated with a PhD from the University of Sheffield and is now a postdoc at the Autonomous Universitat de Barcelona.
Omar Saif
Omar was a trainee/visiting scholar and compiled spatial layers and consolidated time-series socioeconomic datasets to analyse the effects of sustainability standards on social well-being. Omar is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh.
En Mei Tan
En Mei was a FYP student and evaluated the use of blockchain technology for the palm oil industry and developed a spatial map of high-risk palm oil mills.
Gladys Gan Enxin
Gladys was a FYP student and was co-supervised by Anushka Rege. Her project focused on sustainability commitments made by the cashew processors and traders in India. She will soon pursue her Masters in Environmental Sciences at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
Pei Yun Teo
Pei Yun was a SG Trainee and assisted with field and lab experiments under the peat restoration project. She also worked on creating animations for visualizing social networks in knowledge production on peat revegetation. Pei Yun is now working in a government agency.
Matthias Chua Seng Eng
Matthias was a SG Trainee and assisted with field and lab experiments under the peat restoration project. He is now working as a Research Assistant at the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions.
Zu Xiang Ng
Zu Xiang was a RA and worked on the grievance processes from palm oil companies. He is now a RA at NUS. 
Shi Yu Phua
Shi Yu was a FYP student who was co-supervised with Dr. Eleanor Slade. He worked on grievance processes under the RSPO's Complaints Panel. Shi Yu will join a sustainable investing team in a local bank.
Vartika Goenka
Vartika was a Research Assistant and worked on the Black Soldier Fly Project from the IntraCREATE project led by NUS. Vartika is now a RA at the St John's Island National Marine Laboratory.
Li Jia Go
Li Jia was a FYP student and evaluated sustainable seafood consumption in Singapore using questionnaires and a review of sustainable seafood policies among corporations.
Kai Wan Yuan
Kai Wan was a research associate and worked on the impact of cyclones on rice agriculture in Vietnam and the development of an updated dam database in Indonesia. Kai Wan is now a research associate with Dr. Edward Park.
Stuart W. Smith
Stuart was a postdoc under the Tier 2 peatland restoration grant and worked on understanding peatswamp tree-planting survivability rates, experimental work on plant functional traits in swamp forests, and spatial analyses of revegetated field sites. Stuart was a Lecturer at the University of Brighton and now a senior researcher at the James Hutton Institute.
Anushka Rege
Anushka was a PhD candidate who graduated in 2022. She worked on cashew land systems in the northern Western Ghats. She is a André Hoffmann Postdoctoral Fellow at the NUS Center for Nature-based Climate Solutions.
Nur Estya bte Rahman
Estya was a Research Associate and studied tropical peatland restoration in the region. She was instrumental in setting up the project and developing research outputs. She is now a Research Associate with Dr. Eleanor Slade.
 Victoria Cahyani Tanggono
Victoria was a FYP student and was co-supervised by Asst/Prof Joyce Ong. She evaluated the use of VIIRS night-light satellite data to detect fishing activity in Southeast Asia's Marine Protected Areas.
Fan Yi Zeng
Fan Yi was a FYP student and worked on the proportion of peat revegetation sites burnt in SEA. She is now at the Centre for Liveable Cities.
Yuti A. Fatimah
Yuti was a postdoc under the Tier 2 peatland restoration grant and worked on participation of communities in peat restoration programs and knowledge construction around paludiculture. She is a postdoc under the Smart Forests research group at the University of Cambridge. 
Liesbeth Frias
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Liz was a NTU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow and worked on zoonotic diseases and land use change in the region. She is currently at Duke-NUS.
Terese Teoh
Terese conducted her FYP on environmental civic movements in Philippines and Singapore. She was co-supervised with Prof. Walid Jumblatt Bin Abdullah
Santhya Valluvar
Santhya was a FYP student and reviewed and assessed the sustainability policies from tyre-maker companies who are the largest consumers of natural rubber.
Parvathi Sreekumar
Parvathi was a FYP student and worked on mapping cashew tree cover in the Western Ghats.
Weng Ngai Lam
Weng Ngai was a postdoc under the Tier 2 peatland restoration grant and worked on functional traits in freshwater and peatswamp ecosystems. He is an Assistant Professor at NTU.
Maple Wu
Maple was a PhD candidate who graduated in 2023. She worked on causal models and drivers of fire activity across scales. She is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
Muhammad I. Lubis
Lubis was a PhD candidate who graduated in 2023. He worked on cascading effects of deforestation on ecosystem services and fauna in Aceh. He is a Wildlife Conservation Strategist in the WCS, Indonesia.

Undergraduates

URECA PROGRAMME
En Mei Tan (​Sept 2017-Jun 2018) Drivers of agricultural land abandonment across the tropics
Li Jia Go (Sept 2016-Jun 2017) Mangrove restoration across the tropics
Yuan Ning Mock (Sept 2016-Jun 2017) Coral reef restoration across Southeast Asia
ES3008 STUDENT PROJECTS
Ying Xuan Chua (Aug-Dec 2020) Environmental movements in religious organisations
Fanyi Zeng (Jan-Jun 2020) Understanding geospatial land price data from online market platforms in rural Indonesia
Jefferson (Jan-Jun 2017) Mapping land conflicts and fire activity in Sumatra
Jinying Teo (Jan-Jun 2017) Sustainability commitments of oil palm plantations in Indonesia
CNYANG STUDENT PROJECTS
Chester Ling Yuxuan (Jan 2024-May 2024) Co-supervised with Dr. Pamela Devan Trends in housing populations and green cover in Singapore
Wivian Neo Hui Yan (Aug 2020-Jun 2021) Co-supervised with Muhammad Lubis Trends in human-tiger conflicts in Sumatra
Jaslyn Chan Jia Hui (Jan-Jun 2017) Co-supervised with Dr. Matthew Luskin Understory-Nest Predation in Singapore
Chelsea Lee Wen Si (Jan-Jun 2017) Co-supervised with Dr. Matthew Luskin Global Meta-analysis shows Increased Tiger Densities in Higher Latitudes
Interested to join us?
If you are interested to join this lab as an undergraduate, graduate student or postdoc, please do not hesitate to contact me at janicelee<a>ntu.edu.sg