The program started with the usual Loyalty Day Parade in the morning, followed by an Orientation for New Students was held at the SESAM Seminar Room. The faculty, staff, students, alumni and gathered for the lunch ‘salo-salo’ at SESAM grounds.

The SESAM Alumni Homecoming and Symposium was formally opened by by Dr. Decibel F. Eslava, the Dean of SESAM. She then introduced one of the guest speakers in the Symposium, who is Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, a Professorial Lecturer of SESAM. He is an academician in DOST-NAST and had been the executive director of PCMARD for two decades, who has a specialization in aquaculture.

In his talk, Dr. Guerero looked into the theme of the symposium which was “Environmental Leaders: Making Choices That Matter”. “Academe should connect with civil society/institutions outside academe… we cannot work in isolation,” he said. Patience, ownership, persuasion, transparency, has a good science and good governance should be the choices an environmental leader should make, according to Dr. Guerero. “Be a good leader first in your home, then become a good leader in your community,” he added.

Dr. Rico Ancog, Assistant Professor and the President of the SESAM Alumni Association, laid out in the objectives of the symposium. Dr. Carmelita Rebancos then introduced the 1st alumna awardee, the 2015 Outstanding SESAM Alumna for Aquatic Environment Research, who is Dr. Adelaida T. Calpe.

Dr. Calpe graduated MS and PhD Environmental Science in 1991 and 2005, respectively. She is currently the Head of the Project Formulation in the Monitoring and Evaluation Section, Inland Aquatic Resources Division at the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD). The title of her lecture was “Shrimp Industry Strategic Science and Technology Program.” In her lecture, she discussed about the different technologies used to prevent diseases and increase shrimp production. “As an environmentalist, one of my criterions is really looking at technologies that would be developed that should be environment-friendly,” Dr. Calpe added.

The second alumni awardee, the recipient of the 2015 Outstanding SESAM Alumnus for Academic Leadership, is Dr. Resurrection Sadaba, a graduate of MS Environmental Science from the School in 1990. He is currently the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in the University of the Philippines Visayas. “The academe has a very important role in advocating for environmental stewardship,” said Dr. Sadaba. His lecture consisted of oil spill advocacy – stories of oil spills in the Philippines, especially around mangrove areas and lessons learned about the various oil spills. “There is a big need to overhaul the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan,” he concluded.

The event was attended by 84 UPLB students, staff, faculty, SESAM alumni and guests.