Dr. Veronica R. Alava, Ph.D. got her B. Sc. Marine Biology in 1976 from Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro, M. Sc. Fisheries major in Aquaculture in 1979 from University of the Philippines in the Visayas, Miag-ao, Iloilo (under the PCAMMRD-SEAFDEC Scholarship Grant), and Ph.D. Fisheries major in Marine Resources Nutritional Chemistry in 1994 from Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan (under the Monbukagakusho scholarship). She was employed at SEAFDEC/AQD for 30 years, and also worked as a researcher at the Marine Resources Nutritional Chemistry Laboratory, Kagoshima University, Japan in 1994-1995. Dr. Alava specializes on aquaculture nutrition and feed development for different stages of fishes and crustaceans, especially milkfish, tilapia, seabass, grouper, tiger shrimp, white shrimp, and mangrove crab. She is currently the supervisor of SEAFDEC/AQD Feed Mill. Her recent work is to breed and culture polychaetes and to develop cost-effective mangrove crab diets as well as strategies to reduce its cannibalism in the nursery phase.