Evelyn Grace T. de Jesus-Ayson is a former Scientist at the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC/AQD) where she pursued R&D in breeding, hatchery, nursery and grow-out production of marine fish (milkfish, rabbitfish, grouper, snapper, seabass, pompano), including aspects on the impact of climate change on reproduction and recruitment of marine fish larvae. She served as Head of the Research Division from 2006-2011, and again from 2015-2017. At the same time, she was also in charge of the marine fish breeding and hatchery operations.

She was part of the Team that conceptualized the proposal for the establishment of Laboratories for Advanced Aquaculture Technologies (Biotech Laboratories) at SEAFDEC/AQD through a Grant-in -Aid from the Government of Japan. She was in charge of the Biotech facility when it was inaugurated in March 2003 until September 2017.

She was Head of the Training and Information Division from 2012-2015 and was responsible for implementing the various training programs and information dissemination activities of the Department, as well as developing strategies to enhance the information dissemination initiatives and improve the visibility of SEAFDEC/AQD to its stakeholders. She was actively involved in the technology transfer initiatives and served as resource person in SEAFDEC/AQD’s national and international training courses.

She obtained her Master of Science and Doctor of Science degrees from the Ocean Research Institute (now Atmospheric and Ocean Research Institute) of the University of Tokyo with scholarships from the Japanese Ministry of Education in 1990 and 1993, respectively. She has established a track record for publications and reviews proposals and grant applications, as well as manuscripts for publication in scientific journals. She was awarded Outstanding Young Scientist by the National Academy for Science and Technology of the Philippines in 2003.