Zarinah Waheed is a senior lecturer and currently serves as the Deputy Director (Academic & International) at the Borneo Marine Research Institute, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Her research interests focus on corals species richness and reproduction, as well as recruitment on artificial reefs. She is also interested in coral reef connectivity and exploring reefs in murky waters where interesting corals can be found. She is leading the Sustaining Kota Kinabalu’s Marine Heritage project, a citizen science and marine conservation initiative in collaboration with Sutera Harbour Resort, co-funded by Jebsen & Jessen (SEA). Zarinah is a species assessor for hard corals on the Global IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and she represents Malaysia in the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) - East Asia. She serves as an Executive Sub-Committee (Node) for Sabah in the Malaysian Society of Marine Sciences (MSMS), and is a member of the Scientific Research Committee of the Board of Trustees of Sabah Parks. She is a certified PADI Advanced Open Water Diver with over 2,000 dives.

Professor Madya Dr. Zarinah Waheed holds IJAZAH DOKTOR FALSAFAH from Lain-lain , among other qualifications, and has established themselves as a respected expert in their field.