Enrique G. Oracion, Ph.D.

b. 1960

Biography

Born in 1960, in a farming community in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental in central Philippines, I was exposed early to the realities of country life and environmental problems that push poor people to migrate or to move to places they believe can offer them a better life. This exposure may have eventually inspired me to take a degree that deals with human and societal issues and problems. In 1989, after I got married, I moved to Dumaguete City, the capital city of Negros Oriental, and permanently settled here with my family of procreation. I currently work at Silliman University in Dumaguete City as anthropology professor and Research Director.

I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree major in Sociology as a library assistant and an academic scholar in Silliman University. Immediately after completing my baccalaureate degree in 1980, I enrolled in the Master's Program in Sociology through a work-study grant from the same university and graduated in 1984. My thesis focused on a spatio-temporal analysis of the socioeconomic adaptation of the Negritos, one of the indigenous peoples in Negros Oriental, to environmental changes in the uplands of the province where they have been settled for centuries.

After I completed my Master of Arts degree in Sociology, I concentrated on teaching, both in the secondary and tertiary levels, and research until I decided to pursue my doctorate in the Anthropology program at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City. I completed the degree in 2006. My dissertation examined the cultural and local politics of marine protected area management in one coastal municipality in Negros Oriental, which has become a popular dive tourism destination because of its marine biodiversity.

My academic preparation in Sociology, commonly associated with quantitative research, and in Anthropology, recognized for its ethnographic research techniques, has provided me a better grasp of interdisciplinary perspectives on doing research. Anchored in gender and environmental issues and frameworks of analysis, my research interests are varied and include the role of women in resource management and reproductive health, the human dimensions of environmental management, environmental anthropology and ecotourism, cultural and natural heritage management, and service-learning and environmental interventions.