Overall International Conference Chair
Dr. Chua Thia-Eng
Dr. Chua Thia-Eng was the Regional Programme Director of PEMSEA from 1993 until 2007. He was elected and served as Chair of the East Asian Seas Partnership Council from 2007 to 2012.
Recognizing Dr. Chua’s distinguished contributions to the EAS region and to the establishment and development of PEMSEA, Dr. Chua has been granted the PEMSEA Chair Emeritus position. He served in several academic institutions, including University of Singapore, Science University of Malaysia and University of the Philippines. He also served in various international and UN organizations, managing regional projects under the GEF, UNDP, IMO, FAO/NACA, USAID and ICLARM. Dr. Chua earned his doctorate degree in zoology at the University of Singapore.
EAS Congress 2018 Ocean Talk Keynote Speakers
Keynote Speaker on the SDGs and Oceans
Dr. Aladdin D. Rillo
Dr. Aladdin Rillo is the Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). He leads the AEC Department of ASEAN and ensures the proper implementation of the AEC Blueprint 2025. He is also responsible for providing strategic policy counsel to push ASEAN’s economic integration agenda.
Prior to this, Dr. Rillo was the Senior Economist at ADB in Tokyo. This is also the second time that Dr. Rillo will work at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta where he previously served in various positions, including as Director and Chief Economist of the ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office and Head of Finance Integration Division.
Dr. Rillo holds a Ph.D in economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Keynote Speaker on Climate Resilience
Dr. Laura T. David
Dr. Laura T. David is a Physical Oceanographer and Professor at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute who studies ocean physics and its effects on productivity and diversity. She is recognized as one of the country’s pioneers in Ocean Remote Sensing. Her expertise is also being tapped to assist in matters related to climate change vulnerability and adaptation.
In 2010, she was recognized as one of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) and one of the two L’Oreal National Fellow. In 2011, she was given the Gawad Chancellor Natatanging Guro by the University of the Philippines, Diliman. She is currently the Chair of the Commission of Higher Education Technical Committee on Marine Science, a member of the National Panel of Technical Experts for the Climate Change Commission, and the Associate Dean for Facilities and Resource Management of the UP Science. She is also a member of the scientific steering committee of Blue Ocean Planet.
Keynote Speaker on Sustainable Fisheries
Mr. Dale Galvin
Dale Galvin is the Managing Director, Sustainable Markets and Innovative Finance at Rare, as well as Managing Partner of the Meloy Fund, an impact investment fund for sustainable coastal fisheries in Southeast Asia. In these roles, Dale oversees the development of impact investing and blended finance vehicles in Rare’s focal areas of oceans, agriculture, and water.
Before taking on this new position, Dale spent over a decade as Rare’s Chief Operating Officer, where he oversaw all conservation programs, as well as operations. Prior to Rare, Dale held a variety of management roles in the private sector including Chief Financial Officer of PA Consulting Group North America.
Dale holds a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Keynote Speaker on Marine Pollution and Ocean Plastics
Dr. Jenna Jambeck
Dr. Jambeck is an Associate Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia, researching and teaching environmental engineering specializing on solid and hazardous waste and marine debris.
She is internationally recognized for her research in 2015, Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Dr. Jambeck is also a co-developer of the mobile app Marine Debris Tracker, a tool currently being used in global citizen science to log marine debris throughout the world.
She obtained her doctorate degree, master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida.
Keynote Speaker on Water Security
Ms. Ruth Mathews
Ruth Mathews is a Programme Manager at the Water Governance Department and Coordinator of the Action Platform for Source-to-Sea Management at Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
Ms. Mathews has over two decades of experience in working with public and private sectors to achieve sustainable water resource use and management. Prior to working at SIWI, she served as the Executive Director of Water Footprint Network. She also worked for several notable organizations like the Worldwide Fund in Viet Nam for Nature and the Nature Conservancy. She has published articles and reports relating to sustainable, efficient and equitable water use in leading scientific journals.
Ms. Mathews obtained her Masters of Science degree in Water Resource Management and Planning with a focus on interdisciplinary and participatory approaches to resolving environmental dilemmas.