Chelmarie Clavano is a VLIR-UOS ICP PhD student whose work is mainly focused on seagrass meiofauna (particularly copepods) . Her research aims to gain knowledge on the effect of the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Philippines thru assessment and analysis of structural, functional and genetic biodiversity patterns at the basis of food webs in seagrass ecosystem. She finished Master of Marine and Lacustrine Science and Management and worked on the diversity and functionality of active bacteria community found in copepod fecal pellets for her masters’ thesis. She is also a licensed fisheries technologist in her country, the Philippines.