ScienceNewsPhilippines
Human ecology in space and time
A travelogue spanning more than five decades in academe and interdisciplinary human ecology.
This
best describes Dr. Percy E. Sajise's book “Ecology, Environment, and
Sustainable Development: Reflections Spanning Five Decades”.
The book
is co-published by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and
Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the University of the Philippines Los
Baños (UPLB) through its School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM)
and College of Human Ecology (CHE).
It
brings together the discipline of ecology and the perspective of human ecology
in analyzing environmental problems over time and space in the landscape of the
Philippines, Southeast and East Asia.
Highlighting
significant lessons learned from the analysis of case studies, it reflects
Sajise’s collective experiences from his travels, publications, and
interdisciplinary research and development engagements.
The
experience spans more than four decades across communities, farms and forests
as well as universities and research institutions worldwide.
With his
vast work in Asia, the Pacific and elsewhere, Sajise is an internationally
recognized ecologist, environmentalist and mentor.
He is
currently a SEARCA Senior Fellow and served as SEARCA Director in 1994-1999.
He is an
Honorary Research Fellow of Bioversity International and a member of the World
Academy of Arts and Science.
Sajise
was recently appointed as a member of the Advisory Group to the Secretariat of
the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the Food and
Agriculture Organization. The Advisory Group plays a key part in the
preparation of the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture.
He is
also a member of the advisory body of the Center for Biodiversity and
Indigenous Knowledge based in Yunnan, China.
Sajise
is a prolific writer and is a member of the editorial board of research
journals, including the Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development,
Environmental Science Journal, Journal of Environmental Science and Management,
and Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences.
He is
now an Adjunct Professor at the UPLB-SESAM, where he had devoted most of his
professional life.
He was
the Dean of UPLB’s CHE and College of Arts and Sciences as well as Director of
the Institute of Environmental Science and Management, the forerunner of SESAM.
He spearheaded the Southeast Asian Agroecosystems Network and the Environmental
Education Network of the Philippines.
Sajise
was Regional Director of Bioversity International’s Office for Asia, Pacific
and Oceania in 2000-2008.
He
obtained his doctorate in plant ecology from Cornell University and was a
Research Fellow at the Environment and Policy Institute, East-West Center,
Hawaii, and a Visiting Professor at Leiden University, The Netherlands.
“Ecology,
Environment, and Sustainable Development: Reflections Spanning Five Decades”
will be launched on August 6 at 4:30 p.m. at SEARCA, a Los Baños-based
international research center currently headed by Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr.