Joselito "Lito" Modancia Arocena (born March 5, 1959 – December 20, 2015) was a Filipino-born soil scientist.[1]
Joselito Arocena immigrated to Canada from the Philippines as a student. He had a master's degree from the University of the Philippines (1985), a licentiate in soil science from the State University of Ghent (1987), and a doctorate in soil genesis and classification from the University of Alberta (1991).[2]
Arocena published in the areas of soil genesis, mineralogy, chemistry, biology and their applications and/or relevance to soil classification, nutrient cycling in forestry and agriculture, ecology, environmental remediation, geomorphology and archaeology, covering almost all fields of soil science.[3] [4]
In 1994, Arocena began his professorship at the Environmental Science and Engineering program of the University of Northern British Columbia, where he was a founding member. In 2001, he became its first Canada Research Chair.[5] [6] [7] He was also one of 10 faculty who founded the Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi).[8]
He died on December 20, 2015, following a diagnosis with cancer.[9]
Posthumously, he was given the 2015 lifetime achievement award by the NRESi at UNBC. In honor of his memory, a fund was established in his name to support three UNBC students: an undergraduate scholarship, undergraduate thesis prize and a graduate thesis award.