Zaidon Ashaari was born on 12 October 1960 in Dengkil, Selangor, Malaysia. He is married to Paridah Md. Tahir and has four children. Zaidon started his primary education at the Methodist National Type Primary School (MNTPS), Telok Datok, Banting, Selangor. He attended Sekolah Menegah Sains Selangor, Jalan Cheras, Kuala lumpur (now Bandar Tun Razak) for his secondary education followed by the Institut Teknolgi Mara, Shah Alam (now UiTM) where he obtained his Diploma in Wood Technology in 1982. Upon graduation from ITM, he was employed by Pusat Penyelidikan Atom Tun Ismail (PUSPATI, now Agensi Nuklear Malaysia) as an Experimental Officer. In May 1984, Zaidon was awarded the Japan-Asean scholarship to pursue his Bachelor and Master degrees at Mississippi State University, USA. He completed his Master of Science in Wood Science and Technology degree in March 1989 and joined the Faculty of Forestry as a tutor. He then went on to pursue his Ph.D at the Department of Forestry, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, in December 1991 and graduated three years later. He was then appointed as a lecturer at the Faculty of Forestry, UPM in September 1995. Zaidon started late in his career as an academician. He was only promoted to Associate Professor in 2001 and to a full Professor in the discipline of Wood Quality Enhancement in 2012. Administratively, he was appointed as the Head of Department, Forest Production, Faculty of Forestry, from May 2001 until April 2006. In May 2009, he became Deputy Dean of Academic and International Affairs at the Faculty of Forestry and later in May 2013, he was again appointed as Deputy Dean, but with a different portfolio, Research and Innovation. As a lecturer, Zaidon has taught various courses related to wood science but is known for his expertise in wood physics, wood drying, wood deterioration and control and non-wood forest products. Zaidon has supervised more than 120 students at both undergraduate and graduate levels and most of these works have been published. To date, he has published more than 120 articles in numerous journals, where more than 50 have appeared in International and National proceedings, chapters in books, technical reports, as well as a number of consultation reports. He has also contributed 6 academic articles to the Encyclopaedia of Science and Technology. Zaidon has vast experience in conducting research in the area of wood quality enhancement and utilisation of palm and bamboo. He has headed 13 research projects and collaborated with other researchers in more than 10 research projects. To date he has received more than RM1.5 million in research grants from MOSTI, MOHE and other public bodies. He has also received international funding from the International Timber Trade Organisation (ITTO) to work on the utilisation of small-diameter-logs from sustainable resources for bio-composites products. In addition, he has been involved in a number of consultancy projects for both the government and industry, such as that with the MTIB (RRIM 3000 clone study), TNBRD (Suppression of bamboo growth under high voltage transmission lines (HVTL) and wooden cross arms for HVTL, Golden Hope Sdn. Bhd. (bamboo overlayed parquet), IWK Sdn. Bhd. (wood quality of rubber trees fertilised with sewage sludge), RCP Technologies (effects of stimulants on rubberwood strength), APAFRI (development of databases of specialist networks), and MPOB (rattan quality in oil palm plantations). Zaidon’s involvement in extension work has been extensive. His expertise and commitment have been acknowledged by other organisations where he has been appointed as technical assessor/ expert to evaluate products for CIDB, research proposals for the E-science fund (MOSTI) and university grants and a business startup fund (MTDC), as an external assessor for academic promotion to Professor (UNIMAS and UiTM) and as panel assessor for new bachelor degree programs (MQA). He sits on many research and academic committees, among others the Technical Working Group (TWG) for Wood Preservation Standard (MS544) (CIDB), TWG for Moisture Content of Timber (MTIB), Technical Committee for Rattan and Bamboo (MTIB), Advisory Committee in Product Certification system (MTIB), and Advisory Committee for the Department of Civil Engineering (Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, Shah Alam). Due to his active participation and devoted commitment to the awareness of forest sustainability, he has been appointed as head of judges for the National Natural Science Quiz organised by UPM-MOE-NRE for 4 consecutive years. He has also successfully organised and co-ordinated more than 10 training workshops related to wood drying and wood preservation for staff of government agencies and the wood-based industry and been a resource person in training workshops. Additionally, Zaidon has been entrusted to examine more than 30 Phd and Master theses in UPM and other public universities.