Grade 11 - STEM students receive 2025 ASCEND Excellence Award

This year’s ASCEND Excellence Award for Senior High School Research was awarded to a group of Grade 11 - STEM students composed of Raymond Joseph Benedict B. De los Reyes, Breanna Yzielle A. Andres, Renee Gabriela N. Balgos, and Jacob M. Regala, for their research entitled, “Assessing Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge and Practices Among the Ibaloi Indigenous People in Benguet”.

Their faculty adviser was Mr. Gabriel Danielle Luiz G. Eslava, and their partner community was the Ibaloi of La Trinidad, Benguet.

Their group was recognized for their inspiring commitment to community-engaged research during the Ateneo Service Learning Conference (ASLC) and Ateneo Socio-Civic Engagement For National Development (ASCEND) “Beyond the Common Good, Strive for the Common Good” held on 13 June 2025 at Escaler Hall.

The researchers conducted preliminary documentation of disaster risk reduction knowledge and practices among the Ibaloi Indigenous People of La Trinidad, Benguet. Through key informant interviews with elders and focus group discussions, the study revealed that animistic beliefs, traditional rituals, and environmental observations underpin a community-led approach to hazard preparedness. Their analysis highlights how these indigenous practices complement scientific disaster management and have started to inform local government strategies. The project promoted culturally relevant resilience, fosters community ownership, and offers a model for inclusive, sustainable risk reduction by validating and integrating ancestral knowledge into local government frameworks. Active community feedback shaped recommendations.

Congratulations to the Awardees!

Watch a short video about their research:

The University recognizes students whose work makes a significant impact through the Ateneo Socio-Civic Engagement for National Development (ASCEND). This year, ASCEND honored senior high school, undergraduate, and graduate students based at the Loyola campus and the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health whose projects and research outputs demonstrated subject mastery and the capacity for synthetic thinking while meaningfully engaging communities beyond Ateneo in contributing to national development.

The ASCEND Excellence Award is given to outstanding individuals and groups of students whose project or research work demonstrates, in an extraordinary manner, all three of the following:

1. Extraordinary mastery of subject matter and application of synthetic thinking.

2. Deep and extensive engagement with partner communities and/or institutions.

3. Addresses a national development concern in a strongly strategic and/or creative manner with very significant short-term impact on target beneficiaries and/or the potential for significant longer-term impact in promoting the well-being of the greatest number.

You may access the Book of Abstracts here: https://tinyurl.com/2025ASLCASCENDBookofAbstracts

Photos courtesy of:
2025 ASCEND Official Photos and Ibaloi Disaster Risk Reduction Practices Group