CME Dean completes scientific exchange program in the United States

Dr. Moises Neil V. Seriño, Dean of the College of Management and Economics (CME), finished his 12 weeks training and research program at the Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States (US).

He is one of the cohorts of the Scientific Exchange Program (SEP) Fellowship administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This three-month-long fellowship aims to provide scientific training, promote collaborative research and mentoring between US scientists and international agricultural professionals from developing countries such as the Philippines.

Dr. Seriño was under the mentorship of Associate Professor Dr. Naveen Adusumilli from LSU’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness. This is part of the whole SEP training program where cohorts have to work directly with US scientists with whom they share the same field of expertise.

During the course of the SEP Fellowship, the CME Dean underwent several online trainings, workshops, dialogue sessions, symposium, and socio-cultural immersion activities to target the goal of increasing scientific knowledge and research collaboration. He was able to participate in the Agricultural Policy class and met with US Congressman Garret Graves and US Senator Bill Cassidy as guest lecturers. 

On top of that, Dean Seriño was able to attend the 2023 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue hosted by the World Food Prize Foundation at Des Moines, Iowa on October 24 to 26, 2023.

Borlaug Dialogue is an annual gathering of scientific experts, policy leaders, business executives, and farmers to address issues surrounding global food security and nutrition. Because of this opportunity, he was able to join the special dialogue session with the US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Following the end of the SEP Fellowship, Dr. Seriño presented his paper on Capacitating Small Holder Farmers: Effect of the Training Program on Rice Productivity in Eastern Visayas, Philippines first to LSU, and next to USDA, Washington DC. This research analyzed the spatial dependence or peer effect of the interventions in capacitating 415 small-scale rice farmers on rice productivity in Region 8.

After the SEP Fellowship, there will be a reciprocal visit of his US mentor Dr. Adusumilli of LSU that is slated next year here in the Philippines.

More research collaborations are expected between VSU and LSU for this wonderful opportunity that Dr. Seriño has acquired. He is thankful for the learning exposure in the educational system of the US that he can share with his home country, specifically in his home academic and research institution, VSU. 

“I’m hopeful that this network I’ve built both with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Louisiana State University will bear future collaborative activities for the Visayas State University. There are many areas that we can work on together so that we can help improve the lives of local farmers in our region, especially in implementing a circular economy and adopting climate-resilient agricultural practices at the grassroots,” Dr. Seriño said.

The CME Dean is the second #ProudViscan this year to be a recipient of a USDA grant with Dr. Santiago T. Peña, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, also completed his recent fellowship under the Faculty Exchange Program (FEP) for Southeast Asia Veterinary Medicine.

Just this year, Dr. Seriño was awarded as one of the country’s 10 Outstanding Young Scientists by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) making him the seventh #ProudViscan to receive this most coveted award in the Philippine scientific community.

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