Anuar McAfee was born in Scotland and raised in Canada. He began teaching English in Malaysia in 1991 at Kolej Ugama Sultan Zainal Abidin (KUSZA) after having completed his degree in Philosophy and Political Science at Carleton University, Ottawa. KUSZA is now known as Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) located in Kuala Terengganu. Anuar teaches at the Centre of Foundation Studies and is also the Director of the International Centre, UniSZA.

In addition to teaching, his work in the community concentrates on environmental issues. Over the past 20 years he has served as both the vice-chairman and secretary of the Malaysian Nature Society (Persatuan Pencinta Alam Malaysia) Terengganu branch. He works closely with international and local environmental agencies and NGOs on issues related to conservation and sustainability in Terengganu. He has a passion for birdwatching and has led international groups on birding trips throughout Terengganu and regularly conducts workshops on bird watching for schools and university students in the state. In addition to ongoing research on Critically Endangered species in Terengganu, he has published two books on birds titled “The Birds of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin” (2011) and ‘Birds of Terengganu Burung-burung di Negeri Terengganu (2017).