Engr. Melfred Anthony Berdera, a Senior Science Research Specialist of the Geo-SAFER Agusan Project was the recipient of the Japan Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (JSPRS) Most Outstanding Paper Award 2017 for his research study entitled “Simulating the effects of Dredging to River Hydraulic Characteristics using LiDAR” during the Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS) last October 23-27, 2017 at New Delhi, India.

His study, which aimed to predict the possible effects of dredging in Agusan River, Butuan City with the use of high-spatial resolution LiDAR-derived elevation model as a tool for effective planning and modeling, was presented by Engr. Jesiree Serviano, Supervising Science Research Specialist of the project.

Berdera felt honored and grateful to be a recipient of the JSPRS award. “This would not be possible without the help of the people who were there from the beginning up to the fruitful completion of the paper”. He said, highlighting the Geo-SAFER Agusan Project for capacitating and nurturing the minds of its young engineers and scientists. “The award motivated me to be more interested in research and fueled my passion in remote sensing initiatives”, he added.

The research study was co-authored by Engr. Arthur M. Amora, Engr. Jennifer T. Marqueso, Engr. Jesiree L. Serviano, Engr. Jojene R. Santillan, Engr. Meriam M. Santillan and Engr. Ronald M. Makinano.