by Gabriel C. Tan, UPRI Education Division
The UPRI recently concluded the first cycle of its 2025 Internship Program, which ran from May 26 to June 20, with 38 interns completing their placements across various divisions. This year, a total of 100 interns were accepted across two batches, representing 49% of the 204 applicants. Batch 2, composed of 62 interns, is currently ongoing and will run until July 18.
The UPRI Internship Program offers students from diverse academic backgrounds the opportunity to apply theories and techniques learned in the classroom to real-world challenges in DRRM and CCAM. Through this initiative, UPRI strengthens the role of the academic community in building resilience and mainstreaming DRRM-CCAM in both policy and practice.
This year’s first batch of interns came from various institutions, including UP Los Baños, UP Manila, UP Open University, UP Tacloban College, UP Diliman, De La Salle University, Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, Miriam College Nuvali, and Life Academy International. Two high school students were also welcomed as interns, marking a new milestone for the program.
The internship began with an orientation on May 26, joined by 50 attendees—38 from Batch 1 and a few early-start Batch 2 interns. Dr. Likha G. Minimo, Director of the Knowledge Sharing Division, formally welcomed the interns by sharing her insights on DRRM and her vision for resilience in the country. UPRI Executive Director Dr. Mahar Lagmay also joined the session remotely from Batanes, where he was conducting fieldwork, to greet and thank the interns for joining the program.
Throughout their four-week stint, Batch 1 interns contributed meaningfully to their assigned divisions. For instance, WebGIS interns helped enhance the GINA app (Grow INdigenous trees in your Area), a tree-planting mobile application developed with the Energy Development Corporation. Education Division interns supported the analysis of learner feedback from the Basics of Resilience MOOCs and assisted in reviewing the first two MOOCs in the series, offering recommendations for improvement. Interns under the Research and Creative Work Division (RCW) assisted in the development of various public-facing initiatives, including AHA! Panahon Na!, Ang Handaan…Bukas Na!, the CORD Project, and MAHAR under Project Tanim.
Interns also took part in Institute-wide activities such as CPR training, observation and evaluation of the National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED), and a UP Hiraya workshop titled “Building Sustainable, Resilient Communities: A Local Approach to Change.” During the workshop, they helped facilitate Sakunwari, UPRI’s DRRM board game, which engages participants in scenario-based learning.
The Batch 1 internship closed on June 20 with a culminating activity where interns presented their outputs, accomplishments, and learnings. As the second batch of 62 interns begins their program on June 23, UPRI continues to provide a space for student engagement, applied learning, and contribution to ongoing efforts in building a more disaster- and climate-resilient Philippines.