CLSU | Dr. Renato G. Reyes, CLSU Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) and Director of International Affairs Office, became one of the four outstanding academicians in Southeast Asia chosen by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)’s Regional Professional Chair Grantee 2022-2023 pronounced on April 22, 2022.

Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is a non-profit government organization that was established in 1966 by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMO). SEARCA is hosted by the Philippine government that is headquartered at the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. SEARCA is one of the oldest among the 26 specialist institutions of SEAMO. It provides high-quality research in agriculture. It also promotes and coordinates research programs related to the needs and problems of the Southeast Asian region. Moreover, it disseminates discoveries in research and experimentation that contribute to agricultural development. The organization also aims to assist in the growth and development of agricultural practitioners and/or experts within and outside Southeast Asia.

CLSU | Dr. Renato G. Reyes, CLSU Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) and Director of International Affairs Office, became one of the four outstanding academicians in Southeast Asia chosen by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)’s Regional Professional Chair Grantee 2022-2023 pronounced on April 22, 2022.

Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is a non-profit government organization that was established in 1966 by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMO). SEARCA is hosted by the Philippine government that is headquartered at the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. SEARCA is one of the oldest among the 26 specialist institutions of SEAMO. It provides high-quality research in agriculture. It also promotes and coordinates research programs related to the needs and problems of the Southeast Asian region. Moreover, it disseminates discoveries in research and experimentation that contribute to agricultural development. The organization also aims to assist in the growth and development of agricultural practitioners and/or experts within and outside Southeast Asia.

In line with this, SEARCA established the Regional Professional Chair Grant awarding professionals since the academic year 2012-2013. The objective of the grant is to recognize Southeast Asian experts in the academe who Accelerate Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation (ATTAIN) through the achievements they made that help contribute to or improve the status of their respective disciplines which include, but are not limited to, agriculture, social sciences, marine and fishery sciences, environmental sciences, economics, and rural development-oriented fields.

Dr. Reyes was awarded the Regional Professorial Chair Grant 2022-2023 with three more professionals from Thailand and Malaysia. This is for his great abundance and outstanding contribution in the field of Mycology. As part of the award, Dr. Reyes will present a public lecture focusing on the “Recent advances on the domestication and mykopharming of wild edible mushrooms in the Philippines for the biofunctional food industry.”