UP professor bags int’l science award

Associate professor Dr. Gay Jane Perez of the University of the Philippines Diliman - Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology bagged first place honors in the 2018 Association of Southeast Asian Nations-United States (ASEAN-US) Science Prize for Women.

She is the first Filipino to win the prestigious science award that aims to strengthen ASEAN science and technology capacity and gender equality.

Out of 45 nominees, Dr. Perez won the top prize for her work on satellite remote sensing for examining spatial distribution of vegetation, temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture, with the ability to assess the impact of droughts.

Her research also includes assessment on how drought evolves through time, which can be the basis of drought advisory and corresponding mitigation measures.

“Coupled with ground measurements for calibration and validation, satellite-derived products can be used to determine the health of vegetation and the location of crops affected by drought and estimate the amount of damages,” said Dr. Perez.

In her presentation, she discussed one of several studies focusing on developing tools to advise the farmers during extreme weather events such as drought.

“Addressing the food security issue needs concerted effort which can leverage from close cooperation that already exist among Southeast Asian Countries and the US,” Dr. Perez said.