Name:

Mary Therese L. Catapang

Home Institution:

Ateneo de Manila University 

Host Institution:

TBA

Award Name:

Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (UGRAD)

Award Year:

2024-2025

Bio / Write-up:

Therese is an incoming 3rd-year undergraduate student at Ateneo de Manila University, majoring in AB Development Studies. Her interests encompass Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change Studies. 

She completed an externship with Greenpeace USA under Paragon One in 2023, where she conducted primary customer research on GenZ and their climate realities. Consequently, she was also one of the 24 Filipino storytellers granted the opportunity to be part of the journalism fellowship hosted by Climate Tracker Asia and funded by the US Embassy. Through such an opportunity, she was able to publish a feature article in PhilStar on the Alangan Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro and their demands on energy equity after undergoing fieldwork and interviews with experts. She hopes to transcend her advocacy for the welfare of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines and in the US as she enters the UGRAD Program, aiming to cultivate a more culturally sensitive, climate-resilient, and accepting environment for the Indigenous Peoples. 

As a Fulbright Scholar, Therese hopes to find a community in the United States where she will be able to further her advocacy by introducing the culture of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines and learning about the culture of indigenous groups in the US.