WHO I AM, WHAT I DO

I'm an anthropologist who found my way into design through an early fascination with fashion, identity, and nationalism. After completing my MA in Anthropology, I co-founded Curiosity, an independent ethnographic design research consultancy in Manila. We partnered with NGOs, government agencies, and the private sector to develop products, services, and policies grounded in local knowledge and lived experience.

 

Then Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) struck the Philippines.

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The scale of the disaster, together with Curiosity's design practice, drew me into humanitarian work and post-disaster housing reconstruction research with a women's rights organization. Working alongside disaster-affected communities transformed how I thought about the built environment. I began to see that buildings, much like clothing, are not merely objects: they shape relationships, blur the boundaries between public and private life, and influence how people experience safety, dignity, and belonging.

Since then, my work has explored the intersections of anthropology, architecture, urban design, disaster risk reduction, and climate adaptation.

 

I completed my PhD in Architecture and Design at the School of Architecture and Urban Design at RMIT University in Melbourne. My doctoral research examined post-disaster housing reconstruction among fisherfolk living on a Philippine estuarine island, where everyday life is shaped by the combined pressures of climate extremes, environmental change, and governance challenges. During my doctoral studies, I also lectured and coordinated courses in RMIT's Master of Disaster, Design and Development programme.

 

Today, I work as a researcher, educator, and policy adviser across Southeast Asia, bridging anthropology, design, and public policy to address complex climate and disaster challenges. My work spans disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, nature-based solutions, humanitarian action, community health, and resilience governance. Whether collaborating with governments, international organizations, civil society, or local communities, I remain committed to participatory, locally led, and design-based approaches that place people's knowledge and aspirations at the centre of decision-making.

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Alongside consulting and research, I teach at the University of the Philippines College of Architecture, where I mentor the next generation of researchers and practitioners working at the intersections of design, resilience, and social justice.

 

Throughout this journey, I have come to see resilience not simply as the ability to recover from crisis, but as an ongoing process of negotiating uncertainty, strengthening relationships, and imagining more just and sustainable futures. This website brings together selected research, projects, publications, and reflections from that continuing journey.