Dr. Thelma Almendral Saludes, director of the Philippine Carabao Center at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and alumna of Nagoya University (NU) Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya, Japan, was recognized as Outstanding Researcher for 2021 during the Department of Agriculture-PCC Outstanding Employee Awards held at the PCC, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija in early April 2022.  Dr. Saludes started her PhD in October 2017 under the NU Transnational Doctoral Programs for Leading Professionals in Asian Countries and completed the program in September 2021.  She was under the supervision of Dr. Hironobu Takeshita, a Food Economist of NU-GSBS. Dr. Saludes finished her MSc in Veterinary Medicine at UPLB.

Dr. Saludes was cited for her outstanding contribution in “ leading the works and innovations on feed resources to increase the milk production of dairy buffaloes at DA-PCC at UPLB Gene Pool and its assisted cooperatives through her four independent but interrelated research studies entitled (1) Bayesian Analysis of Factors Influencing Productivity of Small-hold Dairy Buffalo Farmers in South Luzon, Philippines; (2) The Relationship of Body Condition Scores (BCS) to Milk Production in Dairy Buffaloes in PCC at UPLB Genepool; (3) Effect of Fertilization on Dry Matter Yield, Nutrient Composition, and In Sacco Degradation of Sweet Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and Mombasa Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum Jacq. cv. ‘Mombasa’); and (4) “Comparative Effects of Feeding Mombasa Guinea Grass & Sweet Sorghum to Buffalo Milk Yield and Composition” (Source:  Department of Agriculture Facebook page)