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SEARCA Alumna Receives Best Paper Award

  • 30 January 2017

Photo of Dr. Merites M. Buot

A SEARCA graduate alumna was conferred with Best Paper Award during the 13th Forests and Natural Resources Research Society of the Philippines (FORESPI) International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Climate Change with a theme "Opportunities to Make a Change" held at the ERDB Auditorium, College, and Laguna on 10-11 November 2016. 

Dr. Merites M. Buot, together with Dr. Virginia R. Cardenas, Professor and Dean of the College of Public Affairs, University of the Philippines Los Baños, received the award for their paper titled "Community Wellbeing Indices (CWBἱ): Implication to Policy Development," under the subtheme: Linkages, Policy Development, and Green Economy.

Dr. Buot was given a SEARCA PhD Research Scholarship in August 2015 and graduated with a Doctoral degree in Community Development in June 2016 at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). At present, Dr. Buot is an Associate Professor of Leisure & Wellbeing Studies of the Department of Human Kinetics, College of Arts and Sciences, UPLB.

Since it was launched in AY1968/1969, the SEARCA's graduate scholarship program has granted almost 2,000 graduate scholarships. It is open to nationals of SEAMEO member countries, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam to pursue graduate education in agriculture and related field. (Jarah N. De Guzman)