Home Country: The Philippines
Program: Energy Economics
University: University of the Philippines Diliman
Pronouns: she/her
Languages: Filipino, English
Janela is an energy consultant specializing in Asian energy markets. She holds an Economics degree from the University of the Philippines School of Economics, magna cum laude, and will be taking a Master of Energy Economics at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Her career in the energy industry started with the Philippines’ leading clean and renewable energy company where she spent three years immersed in actual applications of economics in the field and the challenges hounding the Philippine energy industry. Janela then spent more than two years in an international engineering and management consulting firm, expanding her expertise to other Asian energy markets such as Japan and South Korea. She worked with various international clients and led market modeling and analysis for projects related to energy transition.
Janela was also among the first cohort of the Female Leaders in Energy Program of the US government and the US Energy Association where she delivered a capstone project on empowering female leadership in the Philippine power generation sector. As a Fulbright scholar, Janela plans to study the optimal and appropriate market design that will help towards the decarbonization of the Philippine economy while addressing the persisting issues of the energy industry. She hopes to contribute to the energy transition strategy and energy policy planning and development in the Philippines.
On Houston & Rice:
What I like the most about Rice is the beautiful campus along with its community and culture. I'm also looking forward to staying in a vibrant, dynamic, and multi-cultural city such as Houston.
On Fulbright:
I like that Fulbright provides a great opportunity for career development while at the same time enables the aspiration of contributing towards the development of other countries.
Fun Fact:
Janela loves to discover new food and places through traveling. She also loves to stay in cafes to read books for hours.