DELEGATES from higher educational institutions in the Philippines won multiple awards in the International Summer Course Program (ISCP) held recently in Indonesia.
They were faculty members from the Central Luzon State University (CLSU), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and Marinduque State College (MSC) who participated in the ISCP for Agriculture and Ecosystem Resilience to Environmental Disaster toward Regional Sustainability.
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) said the event was jointly organized by Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) University and Ibaraki University from Sept. 11 to 20, 2022 in Bogor, Indonesia.
The International Continuing Professional Education Grants of the Commission on Higher Education supported the faculty members as they presented their research studies to the international participants through SEARCA's Leveling-Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) project.
SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio said the grant enables members of the State Universities and Colleges-Association of Colleges of Agriculture in the Philippines (SUC-ACAP) to participate in activities organized by members of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC), where IPB University is a founding member.
CLSU was represented by Jairus Jesse Tubal from the College of Agriculture who shared his study on "Impacts of Climate Change on the Tilapia Value Chain from Cage Culture in Luzon, Philippines." Eliza Camaso from the College of Engineering presented her work on "Vulnerability Assessment of Agricultural Resources in Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, Philippines."
Daryl Juganas and Lea Caguiat, both from the Institute for Climate Change and Environmental Management, presented "Adaptation Strategies for Resiliency and Disaster Risk Management in Selected Coastal Municipalities of Zambales, Philippines" and "Spatial and temporal trend analysis of reference evapotranspiration in Central Luzon, Philippines," respectively.
Caguiat was recognized with the Best Poster Award, and Tubal won second place for the Best Oral Presentations.
The UPLB delegates were Liezl Grefalda, who presented "Building Institutional Resilience in the context of Climate Change in Aurora, Philippines," and Rhiz Manarpaac, who presented the "International Risk Governance Council Framework: Climate Risk Governance in the Municipality of Baler, Aurora, Philippines."
Both from the Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Grefalda won third place for Best Presenter while Manarpaac won third place for the Best Student Poster.
Clarissa Lontoc, from the School of Environmental Science and Management, also shared her study on "Estimation of The Recreational Value of Rehabilitated Coral Reef Sites in Boracay, Philippines Using Travel Cost Method."
MSC was represented by Harvey Dulay, director for Research, who shared about the "Production of tomato, eggplant and long pepper using coco fiber-based planter box under deficit irrigation."
Before this summer program, Dulay attended a three-week Training Program on Applications of Plant Biotechnology for Crop Improvement at Kasetsart University's Kamphaeng Saen Campus in Thailand through the LevelUPHEI AFAR project. KU is another founding member university of UC.
Gregorio said the ISCP aims to provide an understanding of regional sustainability through multifaceted research on disaster prevention and agricultural and ecosystem resilience from disaster and social-technology disruption.
He said it was designed to promote talents that could identify problems and develop solutions independently and it combined lectures and discussions on environmental conservation and management, GIS and remote sensing, and biophysical and socio-cultural dimensions of climate change adaptation.
The delegates also conducted on-site observation and evaluation of different types of agroecosystems and visited Seribu Island, Desa Wisata Malasari/Gunung Halimun Salak National Park, Pulo Geulis, and Bogor Botanical Garden. This is part of the active learning component of ISCP.
SEARCA said it continues to facilitate funding support for faculty and staff members from SUC-ACAP universities for various activities by the UC such as one-month to one-semester mobilities, attendance at conferences and training programs.