Ma. Victoria Stephane Asio “Steph”| Phillippines

Steph is a Science Research Specialist from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), working in the agriculture research and development sector. She is currently focussed on assessing the performance, reach and outcomes of nation-wide technology transfer projects and programs.

As a development communicator, Steph is skilled at conducting capacity-building activities, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, and coordination and network-building.

Since both of her parents are agricultural scientists, Steph has always had a partiality towards working in the agriculture sector. This was further intensified when she worked as research assistant for an upland farm development project at the Visayas State University (VSU) from 2013-2014, and then as a project-based researcher at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) from 2014-2016. She considers those years at VSU and PhilRice to be the most formative in her career as she was able to have more realistic and grounded experiences while working with farmers, extensions workers and other actors in the agriculture sector.

Steph obtained a Master of Science in Development Communication with cognate in Community Development from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 2019. Her BS degree was also in Development Communication.

During her time at PhilRice, Steph took part in developing and pilot-testing a new season-long training curriculum for a “new breed” of agricultural extension workers known as AgRiDOCs or Agricultural Development Officers of the Community, institutionalized under the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI). For exemplary academic performance in her graduate studies, Steph was elected as a member of two honor societies: Pi Gamma Mu - International Honor Society in Social Sciences and The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. She has authored and co-authored two scientific papers for the Annals of Tropical Research, a semi-annual international peer-reviewed journal.

Steph loves to read period romance novels. In her spare time, she daydreams and fawns over the fictional heroes of her favourite literary author, Jane Austen.