Advisors & Specialists

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Waste Management Advisor

With a career spanning both regulatory and academic sectors, Prof. Ballesteros brings extensive expertise in air and water quality management, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), and climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Professor Ballesteros was a tenured full professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman where he handles graduate courses in hazardous waste management and wastewater treatment plant design, until his retirement in January 2026. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Saint Louis University in Baguio City, Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman, Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and Science from the University of Illinois-Urbana, USA and a PhD in Environmental Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA.

His recent work in air quality focused on maritime emissions, where he served as co-investigator for the Philippines in the international research collaboration Portal Air Quality Management System. Partnering with the Air/Quality Group of Incheon National University of South Korea, his work was to analyze ship activity data to support evidence-based maritime air emission policies. His experience on POPs and WEEE includes several consultancy roles with UNIDO and UNDP. He provided national-level expertise in areas such as policy development, financial feasibility, and e-waste management planning. He assisted in developing Project Identification Forms (PIFs) for funding by multilateral agencies and policy reviews on POPs, PBDEs, and UPOPs across multiple engagements between 2014 and 2021. He has been invited to lecture on critical environmental topics such as on emerging contaminants in Tanzania, endocrine-disrupting pollutants in Vietnam, and wastewater and biosolids management in China, Greece and Italy.

In climate change, he assisted local governments in integrating climate resilience into municipal planning through modeling urban expansion and conducting vulnerability assessments. These efforts have empowered communities to anticipate and mitigate environmental hazards such as flooding and mudslides. His experience includes working with global experts and institutions like the University of Texas and Hiroshima University, and applying advanced tools like the Parson’s Climate Decision Support Tool for localized scenario modeling and policy analysis. These national and global experiences reflect his passion and commitment to partnership and collaboration on environmental engineering and climate change.

Risk Assessment Advisor

Dr. Delia B. Senoro is a tenured full professor in Mapua University Philippines, until July 31, 2026. She has been the Assistant Vice President for International Linkages, Relations, and Development Cooperation, and the Director for International Linkages for Research and Development for 14 years. She significantly contributed to the global visibility of the university. She has experience creating and managing cross-border partnership, building institutional capabilities, and a team player for multi-country, multi-regional research and capacity building consortia consisting of experts within the Philippines, in Asia and Europe. 

She has practiced environmental and civil engineering for 22 years in industry and private sector. Her work focused on the intersection of civil infrastructure, climate change resilience, environmental quality assessment and monitoring, non-toxic environment, environmental factors and health. She designs resilient climate adaptation systems, establishing environmental risk monitoring frameworks, and bridging the gap between scientific research and actionable policy solutions. She developed frameworks for disaster vulnerability assessment, tools for environmental monitoring that reduce health risks, foster resilience, promote food security and rural development. She specializes in designing and implementing advanced, data-driven spatial risk assessment tools. She has worked in small islands and regions with environmental legacy of heavy industries. She designs low-cost, scalable and natural engineering solutions for environmental remediation. She understands the localized ecological and public health pathways-assessing how pollutants migrate from soil and water into local food chains. 

She is a licensed civil engineer with an MSC in environmental engineering at UP Diliman. She finished her PhD in environmental engineering at the University of the Philippines Diliman under a sandwich program with Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science in Taiwan. Additional skills and knowledge were acquired from international professional training by the Institute of Environmental Medicine of Karolinska Institute and the International Unit of the Swedish Chemicals Agency in Sweden. These competencies, linkages, and cooperations produced 39 scientific paper publications, 20 scientific conference proceedings, various externally funded research and development, and consultancy work.

Environmental Health and Climate Specialist

Jade Yehia is a human geographer specializing in environmental health, climate change and health, and health impact assessment (HIA). She began her career in 2008 as a certified Environmental Health Officer with expertise in food safety, water quality, clean air and healthy soils. She led the Healthy Built Environment program at Island Health, a regional health authority in British Columbia (BC), Canada, for nearly a decade, working with land use planners to bring health into community planning in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. She was the inaugural Climate Change and Health Lead at the BC Ministry of Health and has since worked at Northern Health, a rural health service provider, and as an Environmental Health and Knowledge Translation Scientist at the BC Centre for Disease Control.

Jade has co-authored, led engagement for and conducted adaptive capacity assessments for several Climate Change and Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments, including the provincial Climate Change and Health in British Columbia: From Risk to Resilience (2024). She has also conducted these assessments at regional and local scales. She has facilitated community-driven HIAs with Indigenous communities across Canada on resource development projects. She has managed conferences, including a climate and health gathering co-hosted by an Indigenous community and a health agency, bringing knowledge keepers, youth, researchers and decision-makers together to set shared climate and health program priorities. She has developed curriculum, including a national online course series for public health practitioners on equity, reconciliation, climate action and community planning, spanning rural to urban settings.

Jade serves as Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University in the School of Environment and Sustainability, teaching land use planning and environmental management tools. She holds a Master of Science from the University of Victoria, with a thesis on HIA within environmental impact assessments.

Knowledge and Information Specialist

Mr. Tenefrancia is a licensed librarian and seasoned facilities management professional with nearly two decades of experience spanning workplace operations, archives administration, and information management. He holds a degree in Library Science from the University of the Philippines, Diliman and placed 7th in the 2003 Board for Librarians Examination.

From 2004 to 2023, Mr. Tenefrancia advanced his career at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), culminating in his role as Associate Workplace and Facilities Planning Coordinator. He spearheaded workplace design initiatives, managed the institutional art collection, and ensured compliance with international and local building codes. His responsibilities included vendor performance management, quality assurance, procurement oversight, and project coordination, all of which strengthened his expertise in managing large-scale information and operational systems.

Earlier, he developed a strong specialization in library and knowledge management. As Media Production Specialist II and Film Archivist at the UPFilm Center (1996–2004), he curated and preserved extensive collections of Philippine cinema, historical recordings, and rare archival materials. He oversaw cataloguing, classification, and digitization processes while maintaining linkages with local and international archives. His work involved building comprehensive collections of books, scripts, photographs, and audiovisual records, providing a reliable knowledge base for scholars and the cultural sector.

He also served as Library Acquisitions Assistant, and Project Assistant at ADB (2004–2010), managing acquisitions, cataloguing, and bibliographic descriptions. His role ensured accurate and timely information, enhanced the University’s library systems, and reinforced information accessibility for academic and research communities.

Through his combined background in archives, libraries, and facilities management, Mr. Tenefrancia brings deep expertise in information and knowledge stewardship, vendor and stakeholder management, and strategic workplace operations.