Monday, September 9, 2024, an online sharing program titled Climate Change: Effect & Responsibility as School Students organized by the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry Malaysia and several other strategic partners was held. This webinar program was led by Dr. Mohd Haniff Wahid, senior lecturer from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, UPM. The moderator of the webinar was Assoc. Prof. Dr. ChM. Siti Nurul Ain Md Jamil, a lecturer at the UPM Science Foundation Center, also a researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science UPM.

According to Dr Mohd Haniff Wahid, this sharing program aims to raise awareness so that each individual is aware of their responsibility in caring for the environment through talks delivered by researchers in their respective fields of expertise. This program took place from 11:15 am until 12:00 noon and received a very encouraging response where there were 184 registered participants. A total of 131 participants were made up of secondary and primary school students of various races, namely 116 from the Malay race, 6 from the Chinese race, 7 from the Indian race and 2 from other races.

This program features three high caliber speakers, starting with Dr. Wan Mohd Syazwan Wan Solahudin from the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science UPM who discussed climate change and its effects on the 'Crown of Thorns' type of starfish. Here, he has given an in-depth explanation of the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems, particularly the species of marine life that threaten coral reefs.

The second speaker is ChM. Dr. Shahrulnizahana Mohammad Din from the Malaysian Department of Chemistry Johor. She has highlighted the issue of chemical analysis of river water, which is an important topic in understanding water pollution and its effects on the environment. She has focused on the importance of maintaining water quality for the sustainability of natural resources.

While the third speaker, Dr. Mohd Rashidi Abdull Manap, a senior lecturer from the Department of Chemistry of the UPM Faculty of Science, discussed the issue of microplastics, an important study on small-sized plastic pollution that is harmful to the water ecosystem. This topic is particularly relevant to global efforts to reduce plastic pollution.

Overall, this program has contributed to knowledge related to climate change to school students and the public in line with the program's objective, which is to raise awareness about the responsibility in caring for the environment.

Lecture 1 by Dr. Wan Mohd. Syazwan Bin Wan Solahudin (Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, UPM) entitled Climate Change and its Impact on the Sulaiman Site (Crown of Thorn)

Talk 2 by ChM. Dr. Shahrulnizahahana Mohamad Din (Department of Chemistry Malaysia, State of Johor) entitled Chemical Analysis of River Water

Prepared by:
Dr. Mohd Rashidi Abdull Manap AMRSC, FSSM |
Department of Chemistry
Faculty of Science
Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor MALAYSIA

Date of Input: 26/09/2024 | Updated: 06/01/2025 | adib.yusof