Koh Lian Pin

Prof. Koh Lian Pin serves as Director of the National University of Singapore's Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, Vice President (Sustainability and Resilience), and Chief Sustainability Scientist. He holds the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Chair Professorship in Conservation within the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, where he leads university-wide sustainability initiatives bridging academia, policy, and industry.

His academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University
• B.Sc. (First Class Honours) and M.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the National University of Singapore

Prof. Koh's research develops policy-relevant science to reconcile human development with environmental protection, specializing in conservation science, nature-based climate solutions, and sustainability in tropical developing regions. His work emphasizes practical decision-support tools for biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation, with particular focus on Southeast Asia's ecological challenges where rapid population growth intersects with extreme poverty and biodiversity richness.

Recent publications (2020-2022) demonstrate consistent leadership in climate-biodiversity nexus research, particularly forest carbon projects, reforestation constraints, and palm oil impacts. His work frequently appears in Nature and Science journals, showing strong emphasis on spatially-explicit conservation planning and policy-relevant metrics for climate action in the tropics.

Professional recognitions include being one of Asia's most highly cited conservation scientists, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, TED-Global speaker, and Founding Director of ConservationDrones.org. He also served as a Nominated Member of Singapore's 14th Parliament.

Prof. Koh oversees NUS's sustainability research strategy through whole-of-university collaborations, having previously directed the Tropical Marine Science Institute and co-directed NUSDeltares. His leadership connects scientific research with real-world climate resilience solutions across Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region.

He heads the Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, a multidisciplinary hub producing cutting-edge science for climate policies. The Centre coordinates research teams across ecology, policy, and social sciences to develop implementable nature-based solutions for regional climate challenges.