Miriam College Environmental Studies Institute - ESI

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEWLY-APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR!

The Environmental Studies Institute is proud to welcome our newly-appointed Executive Director, Dr. Theresa Mundita Sison-Lim. Dr. Sison-Lim brings to ESI extensive expertise in leadership, sustainability, biodiversity governance, and strategic partnership-building. ESI looks forward to the institute’s future with her direction.

ESI thanks Sr. Marvelous L. Misolas, MM, outgoing Executive Director, for her guidance and service.

Dr. Theresa Mundita Sison-Lim has been appointed as Executive Director of the Miriam College Environmental Studies Institute - ESI.

Dr. Lim is an internationally recognized leader in biodiversity conservation, environmental governance, and sustainable development, with over three decades of experience in public service, policy development, and international environmental cooperation.

She previously served as Executive Director of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (2018–2024), where she led regional initiatives on biodiversity conservation, sustainable financing, climate resilience, and ASEAN-wide environmental partnerships.

Prior to this, she served for 15 years in leadership roles at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), including as Director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau.

Dr. Lim has represented the Philippines and ASEAN in major global environmental negotiations and multilateral platforms, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, UN climate conferences, and biodiversity mainstreaming initiatives.

She brings to ESI extensive expertise in leadership, sustainability, biodiversity governance, and strategic partnership-building.

We often ask:
"Bakit laging baha?"
"Bakit mainit na ang panahon?"
"Bakit unti-unti nang nawawala ang kalikasan?"

But the better question is:

"Ano ang ginagawa natin para baguhin ito?"

In Tanay, Rizal, Miriam College - Environmental Studies Institute (MC-ESI), Forest Foundation Philippines, LGUs, and local communities are proving that protecting forests is not just about planting trees. It's about creating livelihoods, restoring biodiversity, building climate resilience, and empowering people to take care of our environment.

Be part of forest conservation and restoration, be one of our partners. Help us by sharing this post and inspire others to become part of the movement.

Last May 27, 2026, a superpod of hundreds of dolphins was spotted at the Apo Reef Natural Park in Occidental Mindoro. The rare event highlighted the importance of preserving our oceans to support the natural way of life of its inhabitants and the people that depend on them.

The ocean is vital for everyone and everything everywhere.

“Reimagine: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean”, the theme for World Oceans Day 2026, pushes us to reframe our image of the ocean not just as a large body of water, but as a major and critical ecosystem and connects our lives with the lives of everything within the waters.

Mga Kwentong Dumagat Remontado sa Pangangalaga ng Sierra Madre sa Gitna ng Banta sa Pagbabago ng Klima. Ito po ay isang learning exchange ng mga Dumagat Remontado. Dinaluhan ito ng halos 30 katutubong IP leaders ng Tanay kinatawan ng 11 barangay at sitio.

The theme for this year’s International Day for Biodiversity is “Acting locally for global impact”, which stresses the need for small-scale acts to enact global change. Preserving biodiversity across all environments not only enriches our forests with a colorful variety of inhabitants but also strengthens the critical connections between organisms that allow them to exist and thrive.

Native plants like the Tibig and Binunga/Minunga, native trees used in the country for food and medicine respectively, are only two of the 3,500 recorded plant species said to live in the biodiversity hotspot that is the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. This International Day for Biodiversity, ESI and the Empowered Communities for the Forest 2.0 Project enjoin everyone to be informed about our country’s biodiversity and ways they can help protect it.

The Environmental Studies Institute, under the Empowered Communities for the Forest 2.0 Project, initiates, “𝓜𝓰𝓪 𝓚𝔀𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓓𝓾𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓽 𝓡𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓭𝓸 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓰 𝓣𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓪𝓵𝓪𝓰𝓪 𝓷𝓰 𝓢𝓲𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓪 𝓜𝓪𝓭𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓪 𝓣𝓪𝓷𝓪𝔂, 𝓡𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓵 𝓼𝓪 𝓖𝓲𝓽𝓷𝓪 𝓷𝓰 𝓟𝓪𝓰𝓫𝓪𝓫𝓪𝓰𝓸 𝓷𝓰 𝓚𝓵𝓲𝓶𝓪”: 𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

This two-day learning exchange aims to listen and understand on the wisdom, success and challenges of the Dumagat Remontado tribe in Tanay, Rizal in Forest Conservation and Restoration and safeguarding watersheds. Miriam College and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources deeply appreciate their cooperation in the implementation of the ECF2.0 Project.

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