SPEAKER
Mr. Yam Yujian
Director (Planning Policies)
Urban Redevelopment Authority

Yujian is trained as an economist and has worked on real estate, land, and infrastructure policies in the government service for over 10 years. He currently leads the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA’s) Planning Policies department, and together with his team, works closely with different government agencies to co-develop and drive policy innovations to address sustainability-related issues such as nature conservation, sustainable development, and climate change mitigation and adaptation, amongst others.

Yujian also loves the outdoors and spends his leisure time in nature areas.  As a father of three young children, he aspires to create a sustainable future for the next generation.

SPEAKER
Dr. Harvey Neo
Senior Fellow (Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities)
Singapore University of Technology & Design

Harvey’s research focuses on critical urban studies, citizen urban science and policy-making as well as nature-society interactions. Previously an Associate Professor of Geography at the National University of Singapore, he has won multiple teaching and research excellence awards and taught courses on urban development, resource geography, environmental politics and nature/society issues. Harvey is an Associate Editor, Regional Studies, Regional Science (published by the Regional Studies Association and Taylor & Francis) and Member of the International Editorial Advisory Board, Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation Book Series (published by University of Georgia Press). Since 2013, he has been one of the editors of the leading geography-oriented, multidisciplinary journal, Geoforum.

At the LKYCIC, Harvey leads the Cities Cluster Research on “The Future of Asian Cities”. Amongst other things, he is interested in how a citizen-centric urban science can be practised, and sustained in tandem with “big data”, and in so doing, how it can influence urban policies positively. The future of such citizen urban science will be studied across several Southeast Asian cities, including Phnom Penh, Jakarta and Manila. Harvey is also developing a research programme on “urban sustainability” at the LKYCIC, focusing on the issues of water, food and energy.

SPEAKER
Ms. Angelia Sia
Deputy Director (Centre for Urban Greenery & Ecology Research),
National Parks Board

Angelia is currently a PhD candidate with the Department of Psychological Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She received her first degree from the NUS and Master Business Administration from Imperial College. Her research examines the wellbeing effects of passive and active exposure to nature in Singapore. She is also the chief editor of the award-winning magazine CITYGREEN.

Moderator
Dr. Adrian Loo
Group Director (Wildlife Management); Senior Director (Community Projects)
National Parks Board

Dr Adrian Loo, Group Director of Wildlife Management Division in NParks leads teams on wildlife conservation, management and wildlife trade regulations. He has been engaged in biodiversity for over 25 years. He has worked in the field, policy research and management, as well as represented Singapore at international fora like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES), INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group. He is the co-Chair in the Otter Working Group, Long-tailed Macaque Working Group in Singapore, which is a community voluntary conservation group that engage in species recovery and habitat enhancements. His various work engagements have provided him the opportunity to engage at international, regional, national across various stakeholders.