#ProudViscan to take full-time master’s degree at Yale University

This dedicated #ProudViscan is making her way to another Ivy League School and is considered one of the most prestigious private universities in the United States. Meet Aira Mae Tingzon Gavan, a 23-year-old active, goal-driven, and passionate young environmental leader who will pursue a full-time Master of Environmental Management (MEM) program at the Yale School for the Environment (YSE) this coming fall. 

She is selected as one of the scholars of YSE’s Three Cairns Climate Scholarship for the Global South. This scholarship program is given to qualified students who demonstrate strong potential to advance climate solutions from the Global South. 

With this scholarship, Gavan will receive 100% support for demonstrated tuition needs. She will also have access to non-tuition resources, funding support for summer internships, mentoring partnerships with YSE alumni, and career development opportunities and counseling.

Gavan graduated Magna Cum Laude and hailed as the top 1 in her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science last year. She was a scholar of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and was active in several recognized organizations at VSU, including but not limited to, the College of Forestry and Environmental Science Supreme Student Council (CFES-SSC) and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Restorations by Students Immersed in Environmental Reforms (TARSIER).

Currently, Gavan is working at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 8 Office as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer.

“Basically, I am a technical writer for the Socio-Economic Reports and the consolidated reports of the People’s Organizations granted with a Community-Based Forest Management-Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CBFM-CARP) Projects in Region VIII,” she mentioned.

Gavan lives in Babatngon, Leyte but was raised on the outskirts of Metro Manila. In an exclusive interview with her, she revealed that they transferred to the countryside due to the major flooding problems in their place.

“Because of Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 and the constant flooding after that interrupted our education, my parents decided to move us to Leyte. I transferred to Tacloban City. [Unfortunately,] six months after I moved in, I experienced the infamous Super Typhoon Yolanda. We left to escape the flood [in Metro Manila] but encountered Yolanda [instead]. These experiences are eye-openers that there is an urgent need to protect our environment,” Gavan shared.

Credits to her experiences, she became an environmental advocate who envisions a career in environmental management with a mission of sustaining the environment for the generation of today and the future.

How VSU influenced her to go to Yale

In one way or another, VSU has helped Gavan shape her interests and goals in environmental science. She thanked the university for providing her with a quality education that goes beyond academics. The professors she met at the university became instruments in making a way to her dream school abroad.

Gavan revealed that she was not interested at first to proceed with graduate studies right after her bachelor’s. However, the immense calling is hard enough to resist since there were several inspirations to draw from.

“My educational goals in my 20s revolve around devoting my youthful energy, skills, and knowledge to carve a career in intersectional environmentalism focused on bettering social forestry mechanisms, as a nature-based solution. I want to invest in myself by learning with and from people committed to creating ingenious and effective systems for healthier, well-managed forests. Studying abroad has been part of my growth mindset plan. I was curious about who I would become if I were fortunate to be given the chance. After reading passages that encouraged aspiring nation-builders to live in a foreign country and sharpen their provincial edges, I wondered how this experience would shape me,” the young environmentalist highlighted.

She became aware of Yale University when she volunteered at the Public Forum on the State of the Philippine Environment and People’s Communities in 2019 at the Ateneo de Manila University. The event was organized by the Center for Environmental Concerns Philippines, Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, and the Ateneo Environmental Science Society.

“I was a research and advocacy intern back then and was assigned to man the technicals and the PowerPoint presentation. There I met Atty. Antonio La Viña, [a] lawyer, human rights advocate, environmental and climate policy expert. I heard that he attended Yale Law School for his Master of Laws,” Gavan recalled.

Her love and enthusiasm for her undergraduate program blossomed when she enrolled in the Introduction to Environmental Science class under Dr. Marlito M. Bande, the former director of the Institute of Tropical Ecology and Environmental Management (ITEEM). Dr. Bande shared his work on Rainforestation with the Yale Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative (ELTI) Program.

Moreso, Dr. Guiraldo C. Fernandez, Jr. who became her thesis adviser later toured them to the Rainforestation site for their course on The Contemporary World. It was Dr. Fernandez who encouraged her to apply for a master’s program at Yale University a day after she attended the DOST Junior Level Science Scholars (JLSS) Recognition Rites.

“I owe a lot of thanks to my mentor and thesis adviser, Dr. Guiraldo C. Fernandez Jr., for sparking my interest in people, equity, and environmental policy analysis. His Socioecology class was particularly impactful, as he generously shared learning materials that allowed me to hear from esteemed YSE professors. This exposure to high-quality materials drew attention to the importance of qualitative research,” Gavan expressed.

She hopes to devote the next two years to being honed by one of the top global universities in the world.

“I want to stand on a different podium to see a panoramic perspective of the world and the realities of the interconnected operating systems affecting the environment and humans–to step outside of my limits and biases,” she remarked.

By the end of her master’s degree, she aspires to create a network and opportunities that our country and region can benefit from in the international arena, like the United States.

Her advice to fellow #ProudViscans on pursuing their dreams

Gavan is motivated by 3Ks to sustain her advocacies: Kape (Coffee), Kilig (Swooning), and Kwento (Story). She has an eclectic interest in books, writing prose, conducting qualitative studies, making collages, and watercolor painting. 

Here are the top 4 inspirational pieces of advice she lives for herself to achieve her goals. She also wanted to encourage more students to pursue environmental science as an undergraduate study, specifically the youth in the Eastern Visayas.

1. Be intentional and find your niche.

Just like Gavan’s active engagement with different student-led organizations, she highly recommends that fellow Viscans shall join groups and events and interact with civically-minded people and key players who will help them in their personal and professional growth.

“Be a go-getter in the pursuit of knowledge accumulation. Subscribe to newsletters, podcasts, and websites, or follow any social media accounts/pages that reflect what you want to become or inspire you. Read,” she added.

2. Build an introspective relationship with yourself.

Gavan believes in always manifesting and finding an avenue of acquisition of knowledge and experience.

“Cultivate your self-esteem. Don’t put your dreams on a pedestal. Have a growth mindset. Read the poem Desiderata,” she stated.

3. I am a serial list maker, so I want my fellow Viscans to document their narratives. 

This young leader finds using Instagram to capture her sighs and swoons of life. For her, she considered it as a channel serving as a testament to her journey.

“I hope that my narrative can encourage fellow Filipinos or students from the Global South to keep recording their epiphanies during liminal phases,” Gavan noted.

4. Be mindful. See yourself as a part of a collective that reflects your priorities through your actions.

The way she speaks herself, one can see the eagerness of this young lass to change the world in her way and that is–to protect and conserve the environment. She wanted to walk her talk and the advocacies she upholds.

“I am driven that my post-degree professional goals will explore the bettering of inclusivity, proper management, and sustainable conservation in my country concerning socioecological frameworks,” she concluded.

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