LOS BAÑOS, Laguna: Three Filipino scholars and an Indonesian of an inter-government treaty organization hosted by the Philippine government were awarded at various recognition rites leading to the University of the Philippines Los Baño s (UPLB) Commencement Exercises held last June 22.
Dr. Glenn Gregorio, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), said the four were among their 34 scholars from eight Southeast Asian countries who completed their master’s in science (MS) and doctor of philosophy (PhD) degrees in School Year 2018-2019 at various study posts in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and Australia.
Gerald Salas, a faculty member of Pampanga State Agricultural University, was the top PhD in environmental science at the UPLB School of Environmental Science and Management. He also received the academic achievement award for doctoral graduates presented during the UPLB Graduate School Hooding and Recognition Ceremonies.
Karen Joyce Cayamanda who obtained her PhD in development studies, earned the Best PhD Dissertation award from the College of Public Affairs and Development (CPAf), while Miko Mariz Castro, MS in agricultural economics graduate, bagged the Best MS Thesis award from the College of Economics and Management. Both of them are faculty members of UP Mindanao.
Imelda Grace Siregar, Indonesian PhD Agricultural Education graduate, received the Academic Achievement Award for garnering the highest general weighted average among the UPLB CPAf graduates.
Like Salas and Cayamanda, Siregar was also a SEARCA scholar under the PhD Research Scholarship Program, while Castro was a SEARCA scholar supported by the German Academic Exchange Service.
Eight of them are Filipinos, including Ronilo de Castro, swine research manager at the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, who obtained his doctorate at Nagoya University, Japan under the Nagoya University-SEARCA PhD Research Scholarship.