Five faculty members from the Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance reaped awards in the 113th founding anniversary of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources at the Nicolas P. Lansigan Auditorium, April 19, 2023.

As CFNR celebrates its 113 years of existence with the theme "CFNR@113: Investing in People and Forests, Securing the Future", the college recognized its personnel from various academic and non-academic units for their outstanding contributions to the institution.

Dr. Felisa L. Malabayabas, an Associate Professor at DSFFG was awarded as the 2023 CFNR Outstanding Teacher in Social Sciences and Humanities (Senior Faculty).

Assoc. Prof. Malabayabas was recognized for her exemplary contributions in promoting the discipline and practice of social forestry and extension through innovative pedagogical approaches that emphasize the teacher-content-students connection; creation of an interactive learning environment and conditions suitable for student reflection through games and hands-on experiences; and development of up-to-date learning modules and creative materials for teaching. She embodies a pragmatic, adaptive and inclusive teacher proficient in training future foresters as agent of change.

She was also a service awardee in recognition of her 25 years of dedicated service to the college from being a Training Assistant at the Training Center for Tropical Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability (TREES) in 1997 to serving as a faculty in DSFFG at present.

Dr. Maricel A. Tapia-Villamayor, on the other hand, was commended for being a blue-blooded social researcher, making her mark in participatory risk assessment where she designs and implements methods that encourage local stakeholders’ participation in crafting climate change action plans of local governments and watershed management plans, such as those already implemented in Aurora and five river basins. In her tireless efforts, she contributed in raising the bar of anticipatory and adaptive learning in climate change research.

Assoc. Prof. Tapia-Villamayor received the 2023 CFNR Outstanding Researcher award in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Meanwhile, Dr. Juan M. Pulhin is the lone recipient of the 2023 CFNR Outstanding Extension Personnel (Senior Faculty).

Prof. Pulhin was acknowledged for his pioneering science-based extension approaches that address complex and interconnected problems in natural resources and the environment, for producing actionable knowledge for informed decision-making at various governance levels, for spearheading initiatives that built capacities of stakeholders in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Region for a more sustainable and climate-resilient future.

In addition, Assoc. Prof. Elsa P. Santos was also recognized for her 40 years of dedicated service and exemplary contributions to CFNR. Assoc. Prof. Santos career revolves around community organizing, facilitation and management of learning, and rural development management among others.

The late Dr. Ma. Larissa Lelu P. Gata who was a former Associate Professor of DSFFG and served the college for almost three decades since she earned her BS Forestry degree in 1994 was given the Posthumous Award.