The UP Resilience Institute welcomes 44 students from the University of the Philippines as well as various higher education institutions (HEIs) for the UP RI Internship Program 2024. The Internship Program is designed to provide students with hands-on experiences for professional development in the field of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
The orientation program, held on July 2, 2024, marks the beginning of the students’ exploration of how their diverse fields can contribute to the initiatives on climate and disaster resilience. Through inspiring messages from the institution’s leadership, students were able to gain insights into the country’s vulnerability to disaster and how critical all contributions, including theirs, are to creating safe and resilient communities.
Director Ruben Gamala of the Education Division briefly introduced the different UP RI offices that the students will become a part of for the duration of their internship: Research and Creative Work, Knowledge Sharing, Education, Institution Building, and the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH) Center.
In Dr. Mahar Lagmay’s welcome message, he promotes the country’s need to invest into science and research to “create good plans as basis for projects, programs and activities that are risk-informed.” Moreover, he welcomes collaboration not only with the different UP constituent units (CUs) present in the program, but also with different HEIs such as the Ateneo de Manila University and the Caraga State University, who had students participating in the internship. The UP RI has established partnerships with various local and international universities and hopes to co-create knowledge with them.
Representatives from the different UP RI units provided an overview of their specialties in resilience building and the projects that students can look forward to contributing to during their internship.
This year, the UP RI is excited to host a diverse pool of students from different backgrounds, each bringing unique perspectives and ideas. Among the participants are students from different UP constituent universities: UP Tacloban, UP Visayas, UP Manila, and UP Los Baños, as well as students from the Ateneo de Manila University, Caraga State University, and Philippine Science High School. These students are pursuing a wide range of fields, from natural sciences and engineering to social science.
UP RI is looking forward to the unique ideas and fresh perspectives this year’s batch of interns will bring. Their contributions will undoubtedly enhance our efforts in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.