A welcome to new staff, and fond farewells

PEMSEA is welcoming new talent to the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF) for the upcoming year! We look forward to their contributions towards healthy oceans, peoples, and economies.

 

 

Abigail Fiona Cruzada

Ms. Cruzada is joining as the new Secretariat Coordinator. Abigail is an experienced environmental officer, having worked on project management and policy development in the past seven years. She served as Development Management Officer and Executive Assistant to the Climate Change Commissioner at the Climate Change Commission (CCC) from 2017-2019 and 2019-2020, respectively. She has had extensive coordination, documentation and facilitation experience as secretariat coordinator under the CCC Secretariat for internal meetings of the Commissioners and the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Cabinet Cluster Secretariat under the Office of the President. She has also organized conferences and events for the Climate Change Commission.

 

Prior to CCC, she worked at the Graduate School of Public and Development Management (GSPDM) of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) where she provided administrative and technical support to faculty and students pursuing their Masters in Public Management major in Local Governance and Development program, funded by USAID.

 

Abigail graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and is currently finalizing her thesis for a Masters in Development Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands.

 

 

Kim Shinji

Ms Kim joined PEMSEA as the new Deputy Head in charge of Planning and Partnership Development Office of PEMSEA Resource Facility earlier this month. She is a seconded officer from the Ministry of Ocean and Fisheries (MOF), Republic of Korea. Prior to her secondment, she was the Director of MOF’s Strategy and Data Planning, after working in various divisions focused on marine development, marine ecology and port logistic and planning Before joining MOF, she worked with the Ministry of Land Transport and Maritime Affairs specializing in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and Road Environment and spatial information.

 

Ms Kim graduated with a Master in Science Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Sheffield after obtaining a Bachelor of Laws from Korea National Open University and a Bachelor in Business Administration from the Korea University.

 

Her contributions will be invaluable to the implementation of the SDS-SEA Implementation Plan 2023-2027. Her experience on land transport and maritime affairs as well as in strategy and data planning will be add to PEMSEA’s intermodal approach to reduce GHG emissions in the maritime transport sector; advancing integrated information management systems and spatial planning as part of the tools of integrated coastal and river basin management approach.

 

 

FOND FAREWELLS

At the same time, PEMSEA is sad to lose two valuable members of the staff.

 

Karen See

As a member of the Management Committee of the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF), Ms. See facilitated the meetings of the East Asian Seas Partnership Council, its intersessional activities, the annual Ocean Roundtable Dialogues, and the East Asian Seas Congress 2021. She also spearheaded the formal establishment of the PEMSEA Network of Learning Centers, particularly the development of its Charter, rules, and policies and overseeing its operations. She was also instrumental in the formulation of various knowledge and communication products of PEMSEA, conduct of organizational meetings and training of the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments, and the ongoing efforts to further streamline and professionalize the secretariat services and management protocols of PRF in accordance with the requirements of donors and the global standards for quality management systems.

 

Prior to joining PEMSEA, Ms. See worked for the National Economic and Development Authority of the Philippines as an environmental economist and researcher focused on the coastal and marine sector, the focal person for the monitoring and evaluation of implementing the natural resource component of the Philippine Development Plan, and a member of the internal quality audit team. Previously, she was a consultant who helped developed the Philippines’ country program under the Green Climate Fund, the largest climate financing window worldwide. She graduated with a degree in management economics at the Ateneo de Manila University of the Philippines and will pursue her postgraduate studies on international environmental law and modeling systems in 2023.

 

 

Won Bae Kim

As Head of Planning and Partnership Development, Won Bae Kim played a crucial role in furthering the role of PEMSEA as a regional platform, developing and strengthening relationships with other bodies throughout the region. His skilled and persistent diplomatic work lies behind the development and approval of many ongoing and upcoming PEMSEA projects.

 

Mr. Kim has a long history of working on ocean-related issues within the administration of the Republic of Korea. Working across many areas, including conservation, marine policy, international cooperation, and port logistics, he has a comprehensive understanding of the way the ocean remains a critical and irreplaceable part of modern economies and societies. His deep interest in sustainable development of the oceans is drawn from a desire to ensure that this connection to the ocean remains secure into the future. From 2016-2018 he took a career break to earn a Master of Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island.