PHYSICS SENIOR Socorro Rodrigo was recruited as a delegate of the Philippines in the Paris 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, which will be held from November 30 to December 11, 2015.
Governments from different countries will gather at the conference and will aim to achieve a universal climate change agreement to keep global warming below 2°C.
Rodrigo was recruited by the Ateneo School of Government Dean Tony La Viña after hearing that her paper, “The Mapping of Storm Surge-Prone Areas Along Leyte Gulf” was awarded Best Student Oral Presentation/Best Student Paper at the 13th Philippine Association of Marine Science (PAMS) National Symposium on Marine Science on October 22 to 24 in General Santos City.
She co-wrote the paper with Mathematics Department Instructor Jeric Briones and Associate Director for Research and Head of the Regional Climate Systems Program at the Manila Observatory Gemma Teresa T. Narisma.
Rodrigo also c0-wrote the paper with Marine Science Institute members Princess Hope Bilgeria and Cesar Villanoy, and Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology assistant professor Olivia C. Cabrera from the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Their paper discussed how storm surges have caused catastrophic damage to Leyte Gulf, and analyzed where and how often these surges occur in Leyte Gulf.
In order for the group to predict the said frequency and possible locations of the surges, surge levels were estimated with a hydrodynamic model forced by 100 years’ worth of synthetic cyclones.
In a Facebook post by La Viña on November 26, he said that he recruited Rodrigo thinking their team “would need expertise like hers.”
The Facebook post read, “She joins the many youth delegates I have mentored and work with in the climate process, […] I have always thought that my work on this challenge is for my sons, these youth delegates, and their peers and it’s only right they are involved this early.”
In an e-mail interview with The GUIDON, Rodrigo said that La Viña emphasized the relevance of “specific and concrete climate studies” at such conferences.
“This is why my thesis caught his attention. He believes speaking about my thesis will give even a little input about local implications of climate events,” Rodrigo shared.
For her training, Rodrigo had to attend meetings and read up on different texts in order to prepare for her role as a youth delegate of the Philippine Delegation and the Ateneo Delegation.
Rodrigo is currently in Paris attending the said conference.
With reports from Janine B. Peralta
