Environmental Biology is increasingly gaining attention, especially in these environmentally-conscience times. Malaysia enjoys the luxury of a rich biodiversity in a relatively small area. Its effective preservation and conservation requires a strong understanding and appreciation of the environment. Students are trained in fundamental and practical aspects of ecology and the environment. Aquatic biology and environmental biology are therefore very closely related. Academic personnel in the School of Biological Sciences doing research related to Environmental Biology are also involved in supervising postgraduate students working on Aquatic Biology-related research topics. For this reason, the thrust areas of Aquatic Biology and Environmental Biology are both coordinated under the same Programme Chairperson and comes under the AQEN Bio (AQuatic & ENvironmental Biology) group.