Dr. Wickneswari obtained her B.Sc. Honours in Genetics and Ph.D. in mycology and plant pathology from University of Malaya in June 1982 and June 1988 respectively. She joined the Forest Research Institute Malaysia as Research Officer in October 1986 and was promoted to Senior Research Officer and Head of Genetics Unit in 1993 and 1996 respectively. In January 1998 she joined Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia as Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in August 2005. She has been involved in extensive research on population genetics of exotic and indigenous tree species (e.g. acacias, rattans, dipterocarps, ramin, grasses) and plant genomics and breeding (acacias and rice). Dr. Cannon obtained his B.A. in Biological Anthropology at Harvard University and received his Ph.D. in Botany from Duke University. He holds joint appointments as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University and a Professor in theChinese Academy of Sciences. Currently, he is based in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, leading a research group on the evolution and ecology of Southeast Asian rainforest trees.