Efraim Roxas

PhD in Geography

Fulbright Foreign Scholarship

Hometown: Philippines

I was inducted in the fellows society during my first semester in the US. It served as my entry to the university and a way to meet with extraordinary graduate students. The fellows society activities have always provided a sort of anchor in my graduate student experience as a foreign student.

Educational/Professional Background

Efraim D. Roxas graduated with honors from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology major in Human Settlements Planning and Master of Science in Environmental Science. After graduation, he worked as an education staff at the Center for Ecozoic Living and Learning (CELL) in Silang, Cavite. In 2008, he became faculty of the Department of Community and Environmental Resource Planning, College of Human Ecology (CHE) where he currently serves as Chair and provides leadership in teaching, research, and public service. He finished Master of Science in Environmental Science program with a Thesis Grant under the Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program (ASTHRDP) of the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI). His thesis work focused in Land Degradation Assessment using LADA methodology of FAO and UNEP. He served as a GIS Consultant on several projects under the CEnergy Project of USAID Philippines under the Climate Change Commission. He is also part of several technical teams that did the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of Municipality Sto. Tomas, Batangas, Municipality of Silang, Cavite, and Municipality of Obando, Bulacan. He served as Team Leader and Land Use Planner for the CLUP of Cuenca, Batangas and Sampaloc, Quezon. He often is invited as resource speaker on GIS Training and Environmental Education workshop. He passed the Environmental Planning Board Exam in 2014 and became a member of the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners where he served as Executive Board Secretary (2017-2018). He started the PhD Geography program at Florida State University in 2018 under the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship program.

Research Interests

I live in the Philippines, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. There is increasing evidence that sea level is rising around the world which has the potential of increasing the impacts of storm surge to coastal communities. Although the actual extent of such compounding hazard to our coastal community is not well known. And how we define what and who are at risk are being questioned as mainstream research and practice is absent of the politics and power relations that are being employed in risk research. I work in between physical geography and critical human geography. I try to intervene by using best available science to assess coastal risk to SLR and storm surge while maintaining critical approach. “Resilience from Below” which is a lens that integrate power relation and justice in creating a more resilient community. Understanding the geographies of risk and resilience in this way would potentially contribute to more inclusive, participatory, just communities.