Professor Lee Khai Ern is currently the Head of the Research Centre for Sustainability Science and Governance (SGK) at the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). His expertise lies in the field of Green Technology and Sustainability Management (ESG). He obtained double Bachelor’s degrees in Jurisprudence from Universiti Malaya and Environmental Science from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, along with Master’s and PhD degrees in Environmental Technology from Universiti Sains Malaysia. Prof. Lee is also an alumnus of the Leadership for Sustainability Programme from the United Nations University, Tokyo.

Previously, Prof. Lee served in multinational companies headquartered in the United States. In these roles, he worked as a Lead Auditor certified by the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA), overseeing quality, environmental, health and safety matters for corporate branches in the Asia-Pacific region. He also served as Deputy Director (Infrastructure & Instrumentation) at the Centre for Research and Instrumentation Management (CRIM), UKM.

Currently, Prof. Lee holds positions as a Principal Fellow at LESTARI-UKM, a Senior Fellow with the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (Asia) and a Fellow at the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development (JSC), Sunway University. He is recognised by the Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT) as a Professional Technologist in Green Technology and serves as an Accredited Panel Mediator at the Malaysia International Mediation Centre (MIMC), Bar Council of Malaysia. He is also a Certified Sustainability (ESG) Practitioner by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Prof. Lee has consultancy and advisory roles as Principal Consultant (ESG) with UKMPakarunding Sdn. Bhd. and Principal Advisor for Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Sustainability with UNIPEQ Sdn. Bhd. He is also an HRDC-certified trainer.

Prof. Lee serves as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (Emerald) and as a member of the Editorial Board for Discover Sustainability (Springer). He is involved with various organisations, acting as the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia WEHAB++ (Environment) Committee, a member of the Young Scientist Network-Academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM), a Founding Member of the Malaysian Association of Public Advocacy for Nature (MAPAN), a Committee Member of Malaysia Global Water Partnership (GWP) Steering Committee (Session 2023-2025) and a Committee Member of Pertubuhan Pendidikan Pembangunan Lestari Selangor (PPPLS). He is currently leading the IWaReS Research Excellence Group (KKP) on the niche area of 'Water' recognised by the Ministry of Higher Education.