(JAN. 15)―UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM) professor Gay Jane Perez, PhD, is the Deputy Director General of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA).

Perez is part of a team of engineers and scientists that developed the country’s first microsatellites, the Diwata-1 and Diwata-2. She is the program leader of the STAMINA4 space Program, a research and development program “aimed at further developing deep expertise that enables and sustains the growth of a local scientific-industrial base in space technology and applications in the Philippines.”

She is Associate Professor at IESM and her research interests are in satellite remote sensing of the environment, climate data assimilation, climate change and variability, complex systems, and interdisciplinary applications of Physics.

PhilSA is the country’s national space agency created on Aug. 8, 2019 through Republic Act 1163, popularly known as the “Philippine Space Act.”

An attached agency of the Office of the President, the DOST webpage described PhilSA as “the main government agency to take up activities and issues related to space science, space technology, and its applications. These include the crafting and implementation of space policies, space-related research, as well as related development programs. The key development and priority areas include: National Security and Development; Hazard Management and Climate Studies; Space Research and Development; Space Industry Capacity Building; Education and Awareness; and International Cooperation.”

For her various researches in remote sensing, Perez was awarded the 2019-2021 Cycle UP Scientific Productivity Award (Scientist II), the 2019 TOWNS Award, the 2019 Asian Scientist 100,and the 2018 ASEAN-US Prize for Women.