Dr. Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria, as the Chancellor of UP Open University (UPOU), was reelected as member of the Los Baños Science Community Foundation, Inc. (LBSCFI) Board of Trustees (BOT) for 2016 to 2018. Along with eight other agency heads, UPOU was inducted to position on 29 July 2016 during the Research and Development (R&D) Awarding and Closing Ceremony of LBSCFI's SyenSaya 2016 at the E.O. Tan Hall of PCAARRD in Los Baños, Laguna. Chancellor Bandalaria was represented by Dr. Joane Serrano, Director of the UPOU Information Office and Multimedia Center, during the induction.The UPOU has been a member of LBSCFI since December 2000 and has been a BOT member for three consecutive terms now. It started in 2010, when Dr. Grace Javier Alfonso, then Chancellor of UPOU, was elected as the President. On its third term as member of the BOT, Dr. Bandalaria envisions for UPOU to tap into these kinds of collaboration, community involvement, partnership and linkage to expand the coverage of its instruction, research and public service initiatives.
Dr. Alexander Madrigal as Regional Director for DOST IV-A, was elected President for 2016-2018, succeeding Dr. Casiano Abrigo, Jr., Executive Director of the UPLB Foundation, Inc. (UPLBFI). Dr. Fernando Sanchez, Jr. as the Chancellor of UP Los Baños was elected as Vice-President; Dr. Reynaldo Ebora as the Executive Director of PCAARRD as the permanently appointed Secretary; Dr. Gil Saguiguit, Jr. as the Executive Director of SEARCA as the permanently appointed Treasurer; Atty. Roberto Oliva as the Executive Director of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), Dr. Matthew Morell as the Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Hon. Caesar Perez, as Mayor of the Municipality of Los Baños, Laguna, and Dr. Casiano Abrigo, Jr. representing UPLBFI were all elected as members of the BOT. The term of the new set of officers started this August 2016.
The LBSCFI is the only surviving science community established by the DOST. It was established in 1984 with 10 private and public institutions in Los Baños seeking to share library resources with one another. Now, LBSCFI is a consortium of 23 public and private institutions aiming to uplift the community by mobilizing inter-agency cooperation and the sharing of science and technology resources. It lives by the tagline "Uplifting lives through S&T." (Anna Cañas-Llamas)
