An American researcher will travel to Occidental Mindoro next year to study how coastal resilience and marine protected areas can strengthen disaster preparedness in vulnerable communities, the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability announced this week.

Alyssa Kemp, a Fulbright scholar and recent environmental engineering graduate from Drexel University in Pennsylvania, will spend two months at Ateneo de Manila University before conducting fieldwork in Mindoro province, including workshops with local stakeholders.

“Her research will focus on coastal resilience and marine protected areas, and how these can inform disaster risk reduction management,” the institute said in a statement.

Kemp completed an accelerated bachelor’s and master’s program in environmental engineering at Drexel, with additional studies in climate change and interdisciplinary problem-solving.

She will be jointly mentored by the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability and the university’s Department of Environmental Science.

The research is timely as coastal areas in the Philippines face growing threats from typhoons and rising sea levels linked to climate change.

The Philippines is among the world’s most disaster-prone nations, with storms regularly battering its coastlines and displacing thousands.

Kemp will present her findings to the Ateneo community upon completing her fieldwork.

She is the second Fulbright scholar hosted by the institute this year, following Richard Kraince from Antioch College in Ohio, who visited earlier in 2025.

The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, promotes educational and cultural exchange between the United States and more than 160 countries worldwide.

Photo courtesy of Oriental Mindoro Tourism Office (for illustration purposes only)