A Boholana is currently a Doctor of Philosophy student at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Zagreb University in the Republic of Croatia.

Bilarnon Ana Marquiza M. Quilicot, full-fledged veterinarian and instructor of the College of Veterinary Medicine of the Visayas State University (VSU, formerly ViSCA) in Baybay, Leyte, has been awarded an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship under its Experts-Sustain Partnership. She is specializing in avian diseases.

Funded by the European Union, the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship covers about 116 master’s courses and 29 joint doctorate courses in the fields of agriculture and veterinary medicine; engineering, manufacturing and construction; health and welfare; humanities and the arts; science, mathematics and computing; and social sciences, business and law. The scholars enroll at universities or institutions participating in the joint academic programmes of Erasmus Mundus.

Coordinated by Germany’s University of Goettingen, the Experts-Sustain Partnership is targeted at citizens of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines. It includes seven (7) European and 13 South and Southeast Asian higher education institutions from 12 Asian countries.

Ana Marquiza is the daughter of Hipolito (deceased) and Erna Quilicot.  She was class valedictorian of Campagao Elementary School and first honorable mention of the High School Department of Bohol Agricultural College (now Bohol Island State University), both schools based in Bilar town.

For her college education, she enrolled in VSU and graduated with two degrees, namely, Bachelor of Animal Science major in Animal Health, cum laude, in 1998 and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2000.

In 2009 she completed her Master of Science degree with specialization in Animal Breeding and Genetics from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria.

Her master’s degree was also taken care of by the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship under the European Masters in Animal Breeding and Genetics (EMABG) program.

While teaching in VSU, Quilicot also served as faculty adviser of the College of Veterinary Medicine Supreme Student Council and assistant coach of the women’s volleyball team that represented Eastern Visayas in last year’s State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (Scuaa) national olympics held in Tuguegarao City.

Aside from volleyball, Quilicot also plays badminton, table tennis and billiards. She is also an avid rodeo player and photographer, winning in some online photography contests.  (Reigh P. Monreal)