A BIOLOGY professor is the recipient of the 2025 National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Gabay Award in the Division of Biological Sciences.
Prof. Cecilia B. Moran of the Department of Biological Sciences was honored for leading research on the flora and fauna of the Del Carmen Mangrove Ecosystem on Siargao Island.
Her work led to the inclusion of the Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
According to the Ramsar Sites Information Service, the 4,871-hectare mangrove forest forms one of the largest contiguous mangrove forests in the Philippines.
Moran is the executive assistant for research operations and management at the Office of the Vice Rector for Research and Innovation.
She is also a researcher at the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, leading studies on the population genetics of Philippine endemic plants, plant taxonomy, molecular phylogenetics, and biodiversity and conservation biology.
Moran completed her undergraduate and masteral studies in science at the University in 2002 and 2008, respectively. She finished her Doctor of Natural Sciences at the University of Bayreuth in Germany in 2014.
The Gabay Award is given to members of the NRCP for research contributing to real-world applications and policymaking.
NRCP is the arm of the Department of Science and Technology that supports research for scientific and technological development.
