Asian forestry students come to IRRI for learning visit

Delegates from the International Forestry Students
Association learn about IRRI's work from Bruce Tolentino,
IRRI's head of communication and partnerships.

Thirty-seven delegates from the International Forestry Students Association’s (IFSA) visited IRRI on the second day (21 May 2013) of IFSA's 4th Asia Regional Meeting (ARM). The delegates come from several countries around Asia.

V. Bruce J. Tolentino, IRRI deputy director general for communication and partnerships, welcomed the IFSA members to the Institute and gave a presentation about IRRI’s work in rice science and climate change, themes that are in line with the ARM’s theme for 2013—Forestry Mega-Trends in the Asia Pacific.

Dr. Tolentino also discussed the latest developments in IRRI that might be interesting to the IFSA group, composed mostly of students, such as the use of Smartphone applications for extension agents and farmers, research on healthier rice, and scholarships for young scientists in rice research. 

IFSA is a nonpolitical and nonprofit organization of forestry students from around the world that aims to broaden knowledge and understanding about the forest sciences. To strengthen its network and activities in the Asia-Pacific region, IFSA conducts ARM, which involves Asian future foresters who aspire for the improvement of forestry education worldwide.

The ARM participants were from Indonesia (11), Taiwan (8), Japan (3), Australia (1), Slovenia (1), South Korea (6), and the Philippines (7), all of whom were undergraduate and graduate students in various university programs related to forestry, the environment, and natural resources. They were accompanied by an organizing team.



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