Biography

Growing up defending my family’s crops from marauding macaques in rural Peninsular Malaysia, I learned firsthand how deeply human and non-human primate (NHP) lives are entangled, an ancient bond now intensified, contested, and consequential for health on both sides. To navigate this intensity, my previous work developed digital maps charting population dynamics, ranging areas, conflict zones, and overlaps between NHP groups, tools now used by local authorities to mitigate conflict on the ground. Now, my PhD research in Biological Anthropology asks a deeper question: how does social structure shape disease transmission in NHPs living alongside humans? I integrate ethnoprimatology and One Health to trace how within group dynamics, intergroup and interspecies encounters collectively influence pathogen spread. This matters because conflict and coexistence are more than conservation challenges. They are evolutionary forces shaping both our species across shared landscapes. I am honoured to pursue this work with the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. This opportunity is rare, and I intend to honour it by translating this work into solutions that serve the communities living closest to these frontlines.

Previous Education

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Nat Univ of Malays Biology 2024
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Nat Univ of Malays Biology 2021