School: University of the Philippines Open University

Phoebe Nicole Perez, Ph.D is an affiliate researcher and project leader at the Department of Science and Technology – Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST – ITDI). She leads their “Characterization of vector-borne viruses using Raman spectroscopy for the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines” project.

Jabez Joshua Flores is an environmental scientist and a senior lecturer at UP Open University and the University of the Philippines Rural High School. In 2022, Jabez took on a number of roles, creating maps as a spatial data scientist at the Pure Earth Blacksmith Institute and starting his fellowship with One Health for the NGOHP Program at St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine.

Kier Pitogo is a wildlife biologist with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – PENRO South Cotabato. Kier leads biodiversity field surveys in forest and wetland habitats, as well as maintains a biodiversity database system that is then used to inform science and evidence-based policy interventions.

Chona Vince Cruz-Abeledo is an Associate Professor at De La Salle University’s Biology Department. She is a principal investigator at the DLSU’s Practical Genomics Laboratory, where she leads a team working on the validation of local practices using genetic markers and GIS technologies to maximize resource use in mangrove crab culture.