Name: Dev Albao
Nickname: Dev
Where are you from / Where do you call home? I now reside in Siquijor Island in the Philippines, but my roots are from Bacolod City in the neighbouring Negros ‘mainland’.
What are you best known for? If we asked your friends about you, what would they say?
My friends would probably say I’m always out of town! And that I’m saving sea turtles.
What’s your background?
For 7 years, I was Executive Director of a local conservation NGO, and before that, I managed an ecotourism site for 2 years, which was under the care of the same nonprofit. I have completed a Professional Fellowship on Environmental Sustainability in the United States with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative in 2016, and the Swedish Institute Management Programme on Sustainable Business and Leadership in 2020. I always believed that conservation is interdisciplinary. My experience and interests are in the intersections of natural and social sciences, communications, arts, and even spirituality. I was set up for a path in Biology when I graduated from a science high school. I later transitioned to a different discipline and took Multimedia Studies in university, but still applying my skills to socio-ecological causes, especially nature interpretation. I find my eclectic background to be helpful in my growth.
What inspired you to get into marine conservation?
I grew up in Negros Island in the Phillippines, where ecosystems and their threats are highly observable. A little over 20 years ago, a Biology field trip to a marine reserve sparked my love for the ocean and I wrote an essay about it. The article was printed in a national daily newspaper. I continued my training and practice in science reporting and environmental journalism. The most memorable stories I worked on as a student journalist (before digital media) were covering a community’s response to an oil spill, and a landmark case that fought for the rights of marine mammals in a protected seascape. I also volunteered in a captive breeding project for endangered endemic wildlife around the same time, meeting scientists and conservationists who inspired me. Some of them eventually became my mentors and colleagues, especially when I took on management roles in the field of marine conservation in the last 10 years.
What brought you to Reef-World & why do you care about the work we do?
I love the ocean, so I naturally got into snorkelling, SCUBA diving and freediving. The Green Fins Code of Conduct was a staple reference when I was co-designing and managing environmental education, ecotourism and nature interpretation programs in my past roles involving marine life. After I stepped down from my leadership post in a local NGO, this opportunity with Reef-World came at the right time and presented to me with a wonderful way to continue working with what I love the most.
What’s your role at Reef-World and what does that look like?
I’ve recently joined as Programmes Manager to provide leadership and mentorship to the team who are organising, developing and delivering programmes and actions, such as the Green Fins Initiative, in line with Reef-World’s strategic plan. I’m excited to support scientists, governments and the diving industry for coral reef conservation, and I’ll be helping make this daunting mission actionable and manageable in terms of day-to-day operations.
What do you enjoy the most about your role?
I enjoy meeting and working with people from a diversity of backgrounds, and facilitating them to draw out a shared purpose. Marine life is at the heart of what I do; I am happy and fortunate that I get to care about it every day, and get people together to do the same.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to get into the marine conservation sector?
Dive! Whether with SCUBA tanks or none, find meaning in marine conservation by immersing yourself underwater. All else will follow.
Outside work, what are your hobbies/favourite pastimes?
I love learning about pre-colonial and indigenous beliefs and healing practices. I moved to Siquijor for this reason. I’ve been striving to improve my practice of meditation and yoga. One fun fact about me: There was a time when I also tried out the Buddhist monastic life. The science I sought to understand met with the spirituality that would give it meaning.
What’s your favourite marine animal and why?
It would be the Hawksbill sea turtle. I’ve always been in awe of their transoceanic journeys. There’s also a Buddhist proverb about how precious human life is, with an epic analogy of a blind sea turtle emerging from the depths once in a billion years and it just happens to pop its head through the hole of driftwood floating in the vast ocean’s surface. Sea turtles have long inspired spiritual beliefs across cultures.
What marine animal are you most like and why?
The sea turtle’s life journey also resonates with me. They go through an adventure of a lifetime, and the females return to the shores they hatched from to lay eggs for their species to continue. Am I about to lay eggs?
When and where did you qualify as a diver? What made you want to try scuba?
It was in Danjugan Island in 2016 when I first had my first SCUBA diving certification so that I could also be trained as a Reef Check Eco-Diver. It was part of my job to monitor marine protected areas.
Tell us about your most memorable dive…
My most memorable dive was a very sentimental one and I had tears in my eyes behind my mask. I was out to see the extent of damage after a supertyphoon. Close to that experience was when an iconic table coral colony (we even named them as “Her Majesty”) fell victim to coral bleaching which we were monitoring . These are not your favourite fun dives but they drove me to do what I can to help in conservation.
& one diving destination still on your bucket list?
I still have to dive into the Tubbataha Reefs, and it’s just in my own country!
Star sign and how you express it:
I have an interesting mix of Earth and Water signs. I express inclinations for serious structure with my Capricorn sun, and for creative daydreaming with my Pisces moon.
If you could have one superpower, what would you choose and why?
It’s definitely to be able to breathe underwater because it’s a bigger world to explore down there. (But to be technical about it, I also need to withstand oceanic pressure, have the anatomy to propel and nourish myself, and emit bioluminescence, among many other things necessary to adapt to life in the ocean).
What’s the strangest injury you’ve ever had?
Cut my sole with broken glass in the middle of a performance (Filipino folk dance called ‘Pandanggo sa Ilaw’), when one of the lighted oil lamps we were balancing on our heads fell to the ground. Ouch, but also, yes I danced in high school!
Tell us something most people wouldn’t know about you?
I am a fan of SB19, a Pinoy-pop (P-Pop) boy group. Our fandom is called A’Tin.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I’m non-binary so I try to tell people not to call me ‘Sir’.