COAST CARD - Key Persons
Dr. Tadesse's research is laser-focused on developing pioneering methods to impart knowledge about complex dynamic systems to this heterogeneous student body. The project doesn't stop at theoretical constructs but actively involves the creation and rigorous testing of educational tools, techniques, and methods. Recognizing the evolving landscape of education, Dr. Tadesse has thoughtfully designed the project to cater to both online and face-to-face instruction.
Amaryllis Tiglao-Torres, Ph.D. (psychology), is a Professor Emeritus, at College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines and Executive Director, Philippine Social Science Council. She taught psychology early in her career but later shifted to applied social sciences: Community Development (CD), Women's Studies, and Social Development Studies. Amar Torres has completed research and publications relevant to the disciplines of Community Development, Child Labor, Gender and Women's Studies, Philippine Psychology, and Social Psychology. She has designed and provided training and technical assistance on gender mainstreaming for national agencies, international organizations, Southeast Asian governments, and local government units.
Job Titles:
- Retired Professor and Former Chief Scientist at the CSIR - National Institute
Dr. Arga C Anil is a retired professor and former Chief Scientist at the CSIR-National Institute of oceanography. He made significant contributions to the marine ecology of the Indian seas. He will lead the dissemination of the COAST Card Interactive Learning Environments.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Marine Science and Interim President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Dr. Bill Dennison is a Professor of Marine Science and Interim President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Since 2003, has served as Vice President for Science Application and led the Integration and Application Network (IAN), charged to inspire, manage, and produce timely syntheses and assessments on key environmental issues with a special emphasis on the Chesapeake Bay and its waters. He has published hundreds of papers and books on coastal ecosystem ecology and has presented at international, national, and regional meetings, and various universities, research institutions, and government agencies. He was a research assistant professor at UMCES' Horn Point Laboratory from 1987 to 1992 before spending 10 years at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where he developed an active Marine Botany group with strong links to the Healthy Waterways Campaign for Moreton Bay. He rejoined UMCES in 2002 to develop the Integration and Application Network. He holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Chicago, a post-doc in coastal marine science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, an M.S. in biological oceanography from the University of Alaska, and a B.A. in environmental science from Western Michigan University.
Dr. Charissa Ferrera is involved in transdisciplinary research on water quality and sustainable use of coastal and groundwater resources. During her stay, she is working with Prof. Ryuichi Shinjo, LINKAGE Project Leader, to introduce the socio-environmental report cards as one of the tools to bridge the different units of the adaptive governance framework. She will also be exploring environmental justice and obstacles to behavioral change toward the improvement of the natural systems unit while being involved in discussions on methods to trace pollutant sources in coral reefs and adjacent aquatic systems.
Job Titles:
- Principal Scientist at the CSIR - National Institute of Oceanography
Dr. Dattesh V Desai is a Principal Scientist at the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography. He has contributed significantly to the understanding of marine ecology and ecosystem functioning of the estuarine systems of Goa, India. He will lead activities for report card development in Goa.
Dr. Deo Florence Onda, UP microbial oceanographer, and Mr. Victor Vescovo, American undersea explorer, check in from the bottom of Emden Deep during their historic first crewed descent into the third deepest point on Earth. Watch the video on Dr. Onda's Facebook page.
Professor, Sociology & Anthropology Department | Project Leader, Coastal Cities at Risk in the Philippines. Porio's research and publications focus on climate and disaster risks in relation to social-cultural vulnerability, risk governance, and community well-being and resilience.
Professor Emeritus Kazou Nadaoka will be active in the leadership team and will lead the Japan team. Dr. Nadaoka has over 40 years of experience in coastal ecosystem conservation studies, integrated coastal zone management, and coastal oceanography and engineering. He has managed various transdisciplinary projects as PI, including in Tokyo Bay and Sekisei Lagoon coral reef area in Japan and Manila Bay and coral/seagrass/mangrove areas in the Philippines, all of which are potential project sites in Japan and the Philippines. Through these projects, he has established various transdisciplinary networks.
Dr. Keita Furukawa will lead and participate in the Report Card Development and Social Network Analysis for Tokyo Bay. He will act as Japan's internal project evaluator. He has more than 30 years of experience in coastal ecosystem restoration, implementation, and evaluation in governmental institutions, NGO organizations, and NPO organizations. He serves as a member of the Tokyo Bay Public-private Partnership Council steering committee, co-chair of the Technical Session of PEMSEA, and a member of the Science and Policy Committee of the International EMECS Center.
Dr. Laura T. David is recognized of her multi-disciplinary study in shallow water and coastal oceanography. Her research involves looking into ocean productivity and diversity as it relates to physico-chemical characteristics and looking at how human activities on land and sea affect the coastal areas and our vulnerability to global climate change. Her research, as well as, her involvement as an invited lecturer in international workshops on coastal biogeochemical budgets and ocean remote sensing has earned her nomination and appointment to two international scientific committees and a co-chairmanship in the Remote Sensing Working Group of the World Bank/Global Environmental Facility sponsored international research on Coral Reefs. Since 1998, she has been continuously developing and teaching a graduate course on "Coastal Ocean Remote Sensing and Image Analysis" at UP MSI to spark local interest in using remote sensing in marine science research.
Job Titles:
- Co - Project Leader for the India Team
Dr. Lidita Khandeparker is the co-project leader for the India Team. She has extensive research experience and will help oversee laboratory and field experiments to collect relevant data for COAST Card indicators.
Professor Maria Lourdes San Diego-McGlone is a former director of UPMSI. She studies nutrient biogeochemistry in coastal systems, marine pollution, and environmental impacts of aquaculture/mariculture and ocean acidification. She will serve as the external evaluator for the Philippines Team.
Dr. Rhodora Azanza is recognized for her pioneering work on seaweeds and harmful algal blooms, coastal environment management, and seafood safety in the Philippines. Her significant contributions and accomplishments in the field of biology and ecology of harmful microalgae, specifically her pioneering studies on toxic dinoflagellate species responsible for Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning in the Philippines. Her original study in culturing the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamanse var. compressum, the main Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning causative organism in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia, has paved the way in opening opportunities for further studies on the biology and eco-physiology of the dinoflagellate. Such studies have led to the identification of the factors that affect the occurrence of algal blooms and have contributed to the design and implementation of proactive strategies that can mitigate the harmful effects of red tides and other algal blooms. Thus, negative socio-economic impacts especially on the coastal people have been minimized, if not prevented.
Dr. Mendoza has an extensive background in international development policy and international cooperation, with a resumé that includes work with the United Nations, the Asian Institute of Management and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Dr. Mendoza has collaborated with government officials, academics and representatives of the private and nonprofit sectors to advance reforms that could improve human development, reduce poverty, and elicit more inclusive economic and political development.
He has carried out research, technical assistance engagements and missions to developing countries including Ethiopia, Mongolia, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, Kyrgyz Republic and Ukraine. Before joining the Ateneo School of Government, Dr. Mendoza was also an associate professor of economics at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), where he also served as executive director of the AIM Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness. Working with a team of young researchers at AIM, he crafted and managed policy research on development issues relevant to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Together with Ateneo researchers, he co-authored a study on the impact of political dynasties on poverty and underdevelopment in the Philippine countryside. Dr. Mendoza also worked with Ateneo, La Salle, the University of the Philippines and an international group of researchers on Building Inclusive Democracies in ASEAN (Anvil Press, 2015), which won the Outstanding Book Award for 2016 from the Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology.
Job Titles:
- Principal Technical Officer at the CSIR - National Institute of Oceanography
Dr. Sila Tripati is a Principal Technical Officer at the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography. He has several years of experience in maritime archaeological and historical research, studying historical aspects of the Hilsa of Odisha, Andhra, and Bengal coast of India. Through this experience, he has interacted with fishery folks, collecting traditional knowledge on fishing, customs, social life, and how knowledge is passed from father to son.
Dr. Vanessa Vargas-Nguyen is a Science Integrator with the Integration and Application Network and an associate faculty of the Marine Estuarine and Environmental Science Graduate Program. Her current interest is in transdisciplinary approaches, socio-environmental assessments, socio-environmental justice, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive environmental governance. Vanessa is originally from the Philippines and has extensive experience in molecular biology and marine science, specializing in microbial communities and molecular processes associated with Harmful Algal Blooms and shrimp, corals, and human diseases. She has since shifted her focus on how science can benefit society and was conferred with the first Ph.D. under the new Environment and Society foundation of the MEES graduate program. Her dissertation used ethnographic approaches to investigate the role of socio-environmental report cards in transdisciplinary collaboration and adaptive governance for a sustainable future. She received academic training from the University of the Philippines (BSc; MSc) and the University of Maryland (MSc; PhD). She is involved in developing holistic socio-environmental assessments for complex systems such as the Mississippi River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds and is coordinating a multi-year international transdisciplinary research consortium involving the US, Norway, Philippines, Japan, and India.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Tokyo Bay Public - Private Partnership Forum
Mr. Shin Kisugu is the Chair of the Tokyo Bay Public-Private Partnership Forum and the President of The Open University of Japan. He specializes in law and public property management in integrated coastal management implementation. He will be the external evaluator for Japan.
(Educational Technology Centre) and at Chalmers (MOT), and in Norway, at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy. At UiB, he founded the System Dynamics Group and the Educational Information Science and Technology Program and is co-founder of the European Masters Program in SD. He served as President and as VP of Publications in the System Dynamics Society (SDS) and received the SDS Outstanding Service Award. Davidsen has served as Program Chair on two international conferences of the SDS and on five editorial boards. He is currently a participant in two EU Horizon 2020 projects and is a UiB PI in collaboration with UNEP on the project "Africa's Coexistence Landscapes: Securing their Future for People, Elephants, and other Wildlife" on the KAZA and TRIDOM Transfrontier Conservation Areas. He is on the external advisory Board overseeing 6 projects in the scope of the State Research Program on Energy in Latvia. He has published extensively on varied topics including natural resource management, public health, analysis of complex, dynamic systems, and model-based interactive learning environments.
Job Titles:
- Head of the Ecosystem Services
Aside from being a dean and professor, Dr. Ancog is also the head of the Ecosystem Services and Environmental Policy (ESEP) Research Laboratory, the managing editor of the Journal of Environmental Science and Management (JESAM), Board Secretary of the Philippine Network of Educators on Environment (PNEE), and the district chair of the environment protection committee of Rotary District 3820. Dr. Ancog's research projects concentrate on the systematic understanding of socio-ecological systems for efficient resource conservation and resilience. He specializes in environmental science and environmental economics to see how development and environmental protection can be balanced. He applies his research by extending a hand to government agencies for various projects. He was a consultant in the initial development of the Philippine Mangrove Systems Accounts of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). He also helped analyze the Coastal Resources Management (CRM) programs of 24 selected local government units around the country, especially on efficiency and financing.
Sidney Anderson earned her MSc from Georgia Southern University and her BA from College of the Atlantic. She has researched the thermal biology of the Florida scrub lizard and modelled their potential responses to climate change, as well as studied the reproductive biology of yellow-spotted salamanders and painted turtles in Acadia National Park. She is originally from New Jersey and enjoys camping, birding, playing soccer, fencing, and making art.
Veronica Malabanan Lucchese is currently a 2nd year PhD student and NOAA-LMRCSC Fellow studying Environment and Society at the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science. From 2019-2022, she worked as a NOAA contractor for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Her work as a federal contractor focused mainly on scientific communications, outreach, website design, and economic data analysis. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and majored in Marine Affairs, Geology, and Anthropology. Passionate about life sciences, environmental justice, and public education, Veronica is dedicated to improving environmental management practices and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Through her role at IAN, she will assist with indicator analysis for the 2023 Chesapeake Bay Report Card and the creation of communications products such as short films.