Page 20 - 022021 PULSE@FASS e-Bulletin

Issue no. 2 | 2021

Najeh Farhan Shafeq

Asmar DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY CANDIDATE
PALESTINE

(GEOGRAPHY)

My research is on the hydro-geomorphological
characteristics of the watersheds in the Nablus
mountains in Palestine and potential rainwater
harvesting, and has value in my country because
Palestinians in the West Bank are suffering from
freshwater scarcity. I have access to these sites and can
do my research from my homeland, where I will be
My name is Najeh Farhan Shafeq Asmar, from Nablus,
close to my family.
Palestine. I always had a great passion for physical
geography, having previously graduated from An-Najah
FASS has experts in the field of geography, all of whom
National University with a BA in natural sciences and
have been helpful. This study required a lot of
geography (2000) and an MA in Physical Geography
preparation to collect the eroded soil from the
(2007). Today I am attached to the Geography
measurement areas (plots) which were spread all over
Department at FASS.
the study area to cover the variation in topography, land
cover, and soil characteristics.
When I began to look for places to do my PhD, I was
told by a friend that "the University of Malaya is a
It also required the purchase of equipment for
premier university in Malaysia, which is a government
collecting and storing samples, in addition to buying a
university and one of the best 150 universities in the
car to collect the samples after each rainstorm in
world. Its graduates can work anywhere from Japan to
anticipation of the flooding of the field collection
Canada for their excellent level." This is why I applied.
containers and the loss of part of the samples. In this
study I used various methods of spatial analysis,
In the summer of 2015, I received the conditional
statistical analysis, fieldwork and chemical analysis.
admission letter, so I started to prepare myself and my
family to travel to Malaysia. I sold my car and took an
annual leave without pay from my work. During the first
week in Malaysia, I joined the UMCCED's Language
Institute to improve my academic English language.

Three months later in March 2016, I was a PhD
candidate at the University of Malaya. Then, my journey
began with meetings with my supervisor to discuss my
project's initial plan, and exchanging experiences with
other students from various faculties, which had a great
impact in overcoming the new challenges that faced
new students.

In 2016, my first supervisor, Professor Khairulmaini
Osman Salleh, retired, and I ended up with a new
supervisor, Dr. Jillian Ooi. I was fearful of the change but
from our very first meeting she was supportive. She said
that while she did not have the deepest knowledge in
my field of research, she would do her best to help me
*Najeh has since published two journal articles as part of his
graduate. research and will defend his PhD thesis in June 2021.

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