Dr Soekisman Tjitrosemito, SEAMEO BIOTROP’s Scientist had been awarded the prestigious Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society (APWSS) Lifetime Achievement Award 2019 during 27th APWSS Conference 2019 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (3-6/9). This award is a form of recognition and appreciation to outstanding scientists for their dedication and services to weed science in the Asian-Pacific region and APWSS.

Dr Soekisman is a weed scientist and academician whose expertise covers weed ecology, management of both invasive alien aquatic and terrestrial weed species, weed resistance, and detection of high antioxidant plants. He earned his bachelor certificate from the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Western Australia in 1974, then a master degree in agronomy from the University of Philippines at Los Banos, Philippines, in 1976, and a doctoral degree from the Faculty of Science and Technology of Kobe University, Japan, in 1991, respectively. He has been working for the Centre as a Resident Scientist since 1973 and Affiliated Scientist since 2007 until the present. In 1981-2007, he also served IPB University as a lecturer and supervised no less than 50 BSc, 30 MSc, and 20 PhD students.

His expertise is inseparable from his participation in several training courses in weed biology and management. Dr Soekisman attended a training course on ecophysiology of plants at the National University of Singapore (1985), training course on weed management at the University of Guelph, Canada (1989), workshop on the development of glyphosate formulation at IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), Austria (1990), and training course on biological control of weeds in the Tropics at the University of Queensland, Australia (1993).

Dr Soekisman also owns numerous technical and professional committee experiences nationally and internationally. These included Resident Adviser in the cooperation between IPB University and Australian Universities (1987-1988); Member of Indonesian Pesticide Committee (2000-now); Member of Working Group of Plant Quarantine, Department of Agriculture (2000-2007); Member of the Working Group of Invasive Alien Plant Species Control, Ministry of Environment; Counterpart research cooperation between IPB University and Tadulako University, Indonesia, Goettingen University, and Kassel University, Germany (2000-2009); Member of the Indonesian Plant Protection Committee (2003-2006); and Consultant for FORIS (Removing Barrier of Invasive Species Management in Protection and Production Forest in Southeast Asia) project (2010-2016). Dr Soekisman also actively organised APWSS Conferences in Indonesia. He was a member of the Organizing Committee of APWSS Conferences in Bandung (2013). The 1977 and 1981 APWSS Conferences were also hosted by BIOTROP and Weed Science Society of Indonesia (HIGI).

The expertise and long experiences in research and teaching led Dr Soekisman being appointed to role important position in a number of scientific organisations, including Secretary of HIGI (1977-1981), Chairman of HIGI (2001-2005), President of HIGI (2005-2009), and Executive Committee member of APWSS representing Indonesia (2009-2013). He also became the Managing Editor of Journal of Weeds in Indonesia (1973-1975) as well as Editor of Tropical Weeds and Invasive Plant Journal (Jurnal Gulma & Tumbuhan Invasif Tropika) (2010-2012) and Journal of Plantation Forest Research (Jurnal Penelitian Hutan Tanaman)(2006-2017).

In terms of publication, Dr Soekisman has authored and co-authored more than 150 monographs, proceedings, journals, book chapters, and books over the past 40 years. In 2016, BIOTROP also published two of his books titled ’75 Important Invasive Plant Species in Indonesia’ and ‘Tumbuhan Invasif dan Pendekatan Pengelolaannya (Invasive Plants and Its Management Approaches)’. Four of his articles have also been included in BIOTROPIA Journal published by the Centre.