Dr. Mazlan Madon, our AAPG Alternate House of Delegates Member for Malaysia, and Malaysia’s candidate to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf was successfully elected to serve as a member of the Commission for a five-year term of 2012-2017, during the 22nd Meeting of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on 6 June 2012 in New York. Apart from Malaysia, candidates from China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya, Cameroon, Russian Federation, Georgia, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Denmark and France were successfully elected to the Commission.

Malaysia’s candidate has been a member of the Commission since 1997. Dr. Mazlan Madon succeeds Dato’ Dr. Ir. Abu Bakar Jaafar who was a member of the Commission from 1997 to 2012. CLCS facilitates the implementation of UNCLOS in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines. Under the Convention, the coastal State shall establish the outer limits of its continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 nautical miles on the basis of the recommendation of the Commission.

Dr. Mazlan Madon currently holds the position of Chief Geoscientist, the highest technical position in PETRONAS. He also serves as Head for Research Geology in PETRONAS’ Geoscience Skills Group Committee, which oversees and advises on matters related to geoscience skills development and career progression for geoscientists in the company. Dr. Mazlan Madon holds a Ph.D in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.