SU IEMS director joins Pew Marine Fellows workshop on conservation projects in HK
Dr. Aileen P. Maypa, Silliman University (SU) Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences (IEMS) director, represented the university at the Pew Marine Fellows Cohort Planning and Workshop held on July 20–23, 2025, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sha Tin, Hong Kong.
Maypa was among six Pew Marine Fellows and four program staff from Washington, D.C., who participated in the event aimed at strengthening collaboration and refining research projects.
With her in Hong Kong, the 2025 cohort included Dr. Stephen C.Y. Chan of the Cetacea Research Institute in Hong Kong, Dr. Edy Setyawan of the Elasmobranch Institute in Indonesia, Dr. Hesti Widodo of the Coral Triangle Initiative in Indonesia, and Dr. Linda Harris of Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. Dr. Kristen Marhaver from Curaçao was unable to attend due to a typhoon, while Dr. Marine Cusa, a 2024 Pew Fellow from Oceana Europe, joined the workshop.
Over the three-day meeting, participants focused on providing support and clarity for the implementation of their three-year research projects. Activities included lectures on the Theory of Change and Conservation Impacts, project workshops applying these concepts, and a field trip to Hong Kong’s seafood market. The group also prepared for the upcoming Pew Annual Meeting in November 2025.
(L-R) The 2025 Pew Marine Fellows, Maypa, Chan, Harris, and Setyawan, go on a field trip at the Hong Kong Seafood Market with 2024 Fellow Cusa (second, right) as part of the Pew Marine Fellows Cohort Planning.
According to Dr. Maypa, the workshop was both timely and essential.
“All Pew Marine Fellows who attended agreed the workshop was important and we needed it,” Maypa said in an email.
“It strengthened our projects and provided more clarity on how we will implement them. We also agreed that the conduct of the workshop was done in a very kind manner, full of empathy,” she noted.
Maypa is among this year’s distinguished Pew Marine Fellows. Her research focuses on developing science-based and community-friendly protocols to accelerate the recovery of coral reefs in the Philippines.
The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation supports mid-career scientists and experts through a rigorous nomination and review process conducted by an international committee of marine science experts. Each selected fellow receives $150,000 over a three-year period to develop innovative solutions to marine conservation issues.
