Dr. Merites M. Buot, together with Dr. Virginia R. Cardenas, Professor and Dean of the College of Public Affairs, University of the Philippines Los Baños, received the award for their paper titled "Community Wellbeing Indices (CWBἱ): Implication to Policy Development," under the subtheme: Linkages, Policy Development, and Green Economy.
Dr. Buot was given a SEARCA PhD Research Scholarship in August 2015 and graduated with a Doctoral degree in Community Development in June 2016 at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). At present, Dr. Buot is an Associate Professor of Leisure & Wellbeing Studies of the Department of Human Kinetics, College of Arts and Sciences, UPLB.
Since it was launched in AY1968/1969, the SEARCA's graduate scholarship program has granted almost 2,000 graduate scholarships. It is open to nationals of SEAMEO member countries, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam to pursue graduate education in agriculture and related field. (Jarah N. De Guzman)
