Imelda is an environmental journalist and a media trainer for over 20 years covering climate change, biodiversity, energy, water, illegal wildlife trade, environment-health, and other environment-related topics in the Philippine and Asia.

As Internews Earth Journalism Network (EJN) Senior Coordinator for the Philippines and the Pacific Region, she has managed various media activities such as series of climate change and environmental reporting workshops, mentorship, cross-border collaborative reporting, managing media and story grants, networking with media organizations and individual journalists, and development of resource materials.

Imelda has been covering the UN-backed climate change conference for 15 years as a UN and Internews EJN’s fellow and media trainer. She has helped train more than 15,000 international and local journalists.

For her contribution to climate change and environmental journalism, Imelda was recognized as the Philippines Climate Change Media Champion in 2018 and 2019 by Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. She is Asia Development Journalists of the Year 2009, a United Nations Gold Medal Champion on Humanitarian and Development Reporting in 2009, IUCN-Reuters Asia Awardee on Environmental Reporting in 2002, among other international and national journalism awards.

Imelda is the founding president of the Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists (PNEJ). She is a former member of the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists.