Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz is manager of SEARCA’s Knowledge Management Department, recast from the Training Department in SEARCA’s Ninth Five Year Plan (2009-2010 to 2013-2014).

Dr. Cadiz also serves as Adjunct Associate Professor and was first Dean of the College of Development Communication of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) (1999-2006). She had devoted her 28-year career at UPLB to teaching, research, practice and academic leadership and administration in development communication prior to joining SEARCA in July 2006, initially on seconded appointment. She holds a PhD from Macquarie University in New South Wales, Australia, and a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Development Communication (cum laude) from UPLB.

She served as project leader/coordinator in a number of national and international action-research programs in development communication; authored two books, a monograph, and several articles published in professional publications, as book chapters, or presented in international and national conferences; and produced more than 40 communication materials in various media formats, from print to audiovisual.

In particular, she served as the Program Coordinator of the Adaptive Learning and Linkages in Community-based Natural Resource Management (ALL in CBNRM), an inter-institutional capacity-building and networking program being developed as a regional CBNRM center of excellence supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in 2006-2008; and its earlier phase the Isang Bagsak Southeast Asia, both through the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Foundation, Inc. and the UPLB College of Development Communication in 2003 to 2006.

She was Member and Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Communication for Social Change Consortium (CFSC) based in South Orange, New Jersey, USA; Chair of the Technical Committee for Communication of the Technical Panel for the Social Sciences and Communication, Commission on Higher Education, Philippines; member of the Scientific Committee of the World Congress on Communication for Development organized by the World Bank, FAO, and the Communication Initiative on 25-27 October 2006 in Rome, Italy; and Participatory Development Communication Adviser of the project "Community-driven Universal Access Solutions in Cambodia: Pilots to Policy Research", funded by the IDRC Pan Asia Networking Program through the Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia. She had served as country representative (Philippines) of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Inc. (AMIC); as member in the Board of Directors of the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE); and as Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Arts Research and Training Institute for Southern Tagalog, Inc. (ARTIST) and of the Nora C. Quebral Development Communication Centre, Inc. (NCQDCCI).