Dr Teh Su Yean: Using Mathematics to address an environmental problem

Dr Teh Su Yean wants to build a mathematical model to simulate the response of ground water and vegetation to sea level rise. Photo: L'Oreal Malaysia

Dr Teh Su Yean, an associate professor at the School Of Mathematical Sciences in Universiti Sains Malaysia was worried about presenting her proposal to the 2017 L’Oreal-Unesco Awards: National Fellowship.

“My research is quite technical and uses a lot of very specific terms. It also involves a lot of elements so at first my proposal felt convoluted. I showed it to many people and kept changing things to make it better. I doubted myself a lot,” said Teh in an interview in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.