{"id":192,"date":"2021-09-30T18:20:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T18:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/?page_id=192"},"modified":"2025-02-11T21:41:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T21:41:26","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-1024x769.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-768x577.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-1536x1154.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-2048x1539.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26268\/2023\/01\/image2-700x526.jpeg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Jem Baldisimo<br>PhD Candidate at Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Mabuhay<\/em>! My name is Jem Baldisimo &amp; I have a broad interest in bridging scientific research and policy making for coastal and coral reef environments. I have over a decade of experience in environmental consulting and marine conservation, including numerous leadership roles in research projects covering various localities around the Philippines. I began a career in environmental consulting after graduating from Ateneo de Manila University in 2007. An Australian Leadership Award in 2009 allowed me to pursue a Master of Environment degree from the University of Melbourne. After returning to the Philippines, I transitioned to working the in the field of marine conservation and academic research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, I am a PhD candidate in the Ecological Sciences program at Old Dominion University. My dissertation focuses on determining the extinction risk of marine ornamental fishes using genetic and data-limited approaches. I am a Fulbright Scholar from the Philippines and <a href=\"https:\/\/vaseagrant.org\/graduate-research-fellowships\/\">Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Student fellow<\/a>. At ODU, I am involved in the IUCN Global Marine Biodiversity Unit and NSF-funded <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/PIRE\/philippines\/\">Philippines PIRE Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have received prestigious awards, grants and fellowships from various institutions worldwide, including AusAID, Fulbright, Virginia Sea Grant, National Science Foundation, Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering &amp; Medicine, and the American Association of University Women. I have also received community service awards in the Philippines and the US. My advocacies include promoting conservation and sustainability; health and wellness, and music and the arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EDUCATION<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Old Dominion University, Doctor of Philosophy &#8211; PhD, Ecological Sciences (2024 Expected)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>University of Melbourne, Master of Environment (2010)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ateneo de Manila University, Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science (2007)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>St Scholastica&#8217;s College Manila, Primary &amp; Secondary Education (1999, 2003)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>HONORS &amp; AWARDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Current GPA at ODU: 4.0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2025 John M. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2024 Commonwealth of Virginia Engineering &amp; Science Fellow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2023-2024 Dominion Scholar, Biological Sciences Department at ODU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2022 Ellen Neufeldt Graduate Student Leader of the Year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2021 Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Student Fellow<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2021 ODU Graduate School Summer Grant Awardee<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2020 American Association of University Women Scholarship Awardee at ODU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2020 Monarch Citizen of the Year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1st Place &#8211; Student Research Poster Contest, 2020 Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Student Symposium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>US Department of State &amp; Philippine-American Educational Foundation, Fulbright Graduate Student Program Grantee 2018<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AusAid Australian Leadership Awards 2008<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ateneo de Manila University Dean&#8217;s Lister<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bayer Young Environmental Envoy (Finalist, Luzon Region)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Zonta Club International &#8211; Young Women in Public Affairs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scholastican Award for Leadership<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Benedictine Award for Service and Excellence<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bronze Medal (3rd Honours)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gerry Roxas Leadership Award<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Presidential Leadership Award<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>St Hildegard Award for Excellence in Science<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>St Hildegard Award for Excellence in Theater Arts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>LICENSES &amp; CERTIFICATIONS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>PADI Rescue Diver<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PADI Reef Check EcoDiver<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AAUS Certified &#8211; Scientific Diver<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download my CV<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mabuhay! My name is Jem Baldisimo &amp; I have a broad interest in bridging scientific research and policy making for coastal and coral reef environments. I have over a decade of experience in environmental consulting and marine conservation, including numerous leadership roles in research projects covering various localities around the Philippines. I began a career [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15775,"featured_media":195,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/192"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15775"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":508,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/192\/revisions\/508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/jembaldisimo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}