By Wan Najihah Wan Muhammad, Sultanah Nurzahirah Library UMT

A Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) librarian has brought a landmark achievement to the university recently. Mohd Shahrulnizam Zuraimi, Deputy Chief Librarian at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Library (PSNZ), has been elected as the Chairperson of the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) Steering Committee.

This recognition not only marks a significant milestone for UMT but also underscores Malaysia’s growing leadership in the global aquatic sciences community.

His appointment follows ASFA’s recent adoption of a new Terms of Reference (TOR) in January 2025, which modernized its 25-year-old partnership framework to allow more flexible and inclusive participation. This shift has already welcomed nine new institutions into the global ASFA network this year.

ASFA, a partnership under the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, aims to disseminate global research in aquatic sciences, fisheries, and aquaculture. UMT joined ASFA in 2017, which has positioned the university as Malaysia’s official representative in ASFA. Since then, UMT has made significant contributions, including indexing over 500 research articles in the OpenASFA system and facilitating collaboration with local institutions such as Universiti Malaya and Universiti Malaysia Sabah. These efforts have positioned UMT as a leading voice in marine and aquatic research in the region.

Mohd Shahrulnizam has represented UMT at numerous ASFA board meetings, including those in Belgium (2018), UMT (2019), and Bangkok (2023). He will be attending the next meeting scheduled for Ecuador in 2025. As Chairperson, he will lead ASFA’s global initiatives alongside Vice Chairperson Daryl Superio from Northern Iloilo State University, Philippines. With a vision of making aquatic science knowledge globally accessible, their leadership is expected to further strengthen ASFA’s mission and visibility on the world stage.

Through ASFA, UMT gains access to the ASFA ProQuest database with nearly 6 million aquatic science records and has submitted over 500 indexed articles via OpenASFA, elevating UMT’s international research visibility. UMT also offers training on ASFA tools to enhance research indexing across Malaysia.