PLENARY SPEAKERS
Policy and Governance
HON. MARIA THERESA "TETCHI" CRUZ CAPELLAN
CEO, SunAsia Energy, Inc., Philippines
Maria Theresa "Tetchie" Cruz Capellan" started the use of solar energy to light 10,000 homes in the remote areas of the country. Like many, she didn’t start out in the career she would later be famous for. She completed her degree in Behavioral Sciences at a Catholic –run Maryknoll College, then completed her Master in International Development at Harvard University. In 1990, she became the youngest and first woman to serve as Assistant Secretary in the Philippine Department of Agriculture. She became Undersecretary in 2002, a post she held for four years! She transferred from agriculture to energy when she was appointed as Chief of Party for the rural electrification program of the USAID-funded AMORE. In 2010, she joined SunEdison USA as Country Advisor for the Philippines. That same year, she founded the Philippine Solar Power Alliance, a not-for-profit industry association pushing for policies supporting solar power at the government level. In 2013, she launched her own solar company – SunAsia Enegy Inc – and was responsible for developing the 3rd largest solar power plant in the Philippines. She received the Most Outstanding Scientist Award in Singapore in 2016, and was recognized in Shanghai as the one of the 2018 World’s Developer for Solar and Storage. Today, she continues to work in the renewable energy space as CEO of SunAsia Energy and President of the Philippine Solar Power Alliance. She travels around the world to conferences and conventions, educating people about the benefit of solar and how the technology helps people’s lives.
DR. SITI ZAHARAH SAKIMIN
Professor and Scientist, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
Siti Zaharah, an ASEAN-US Fellow for Science and Technology and ASEAN Science Diplomat, was involved in the revision of Malaysia’s Renewable Energy (RE) Policy. She was also appointed by her ministry to serve on the Research and Innovation Working Committee of the National Green Technology & Climate Change Council (MTHPI) Secretariate. Dr. Siti Zaharah presented policy recommendations on biogas energy to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as to the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology, and Water. She received her Ph.D. from Curtin University in Australia under a scholarship from Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education.
HON. USEC. ATTY. ANALIZA REBUELTA-TEH
Undersecretary, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines
Analiza Rebuelta-Teh is the current Undersecretary for Climate Services and Mining Concerns of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and holds various board positions for the National Power Corporation (NPC) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) among others. She is also the Intergovernmental Session Chair for the East Asian Seas Partnership Council (PEMSEA), as well as the Operational Focal Point for the Global Environment Fund (GEF). She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Commerce, with a major in marketing from De La Salle University and a Law degree from the University of the Philippines.
ACAD. JURGENNE PRIMAVERA
Chief Mangrove Scientific Advisor, Zoological Society of London, United Kingdom
Jurgenne Primavera has degrees in Zoology and Marine Science from the University of the Philippines and Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Science honoris causa from Stockholm University. She is a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, Scientist Emerita of SEAFDEC Aquaculture Department, 2008 Time Magazine Hero of the Environment and 50 DOST Men and Women of Science, 2009 U.P. Distinguished Alumni Awardee in Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development, and member of the National Academy of Science and Technology in 2015. Over five decades, Dr. Primavera has published more than 150 scientific papers, reviews, manuals, books and given ~300 keynote lectures and presentations on aquaculture, mangroves, beach forests, and the environment. Approaching the end of a career in R&D, she tends a frontyard nursery of native trees, protects a 20-year old rehabilitated forest and continues to restore another mini-forest, the nursery and forests all in Iloilo. Presently she is Chief Mangrove Scientific Advisor of the Zoological Society of London.
DR. NOFRI YENITA DAHLAN
Professor and Scientist, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
Nofri Yenita Dahlan has focused on power generation investment, energy economics, energy savings and efficiency and smart greenhouse system for plant cultivation. She has been awarded a Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP) from the Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO) and Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). Dr. Nofri is also a trainer for Certified Professional in Measurement and Verification (CPMV) and technical expert for Greentech Malaysia. She is an ASEAN-U.S. Science and Technology Fellow in 2015-2016, ASEAN Science Diplomat in 2018, and policy consultant to United Nation Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Nofri obtained her PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.