Asian Heritage Month spotlight: Riya Timpog and the spirit of bayanihan
May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada, and the theme for 2025 is “Unity in Diversity: The Impact of Asian Communities in Shaping Canadian Identity”. At the Faculty of Science, we acknowledge the contributions from the diverse Asian Canadian communities and how they enrich everyone’s experience, from students to staff and faculty.
This year, we talked with Riya Timpog, our wonderful co-op coordinator for Life Sciences programs at the Faculty of Science. Timpog comes from a background in the arts and psychology with expertise and experience in career development and community building. She is a proud Filipino Canadian who implements the concept of “bayanihan” into her work with the students.
Co-op Works! event, November 2024, from top left, Ivy Mannil (Computational Sciences Co-op Coordinator), followed by senior Co-op student presenters: Gulnaaz, Dadiso, Owen; bottom left to right: Riya Timpog, Louis, Miao Yi, Eldrec; virtual presenters Randi and Vincent.
“One thing that I also hold really dearly as a Filipino Canadian and that I try to incorporate in my position here in the Faculty of Science in an academic Canadian environment, are the values of hard work, resilience, positivity, and the concept of “bayanihan”, which is the spirit of community, belonging to a community, helping one another without expecting anything in return”, says Timpog.
Summer 2024 site visit at the St Boniface General Hospital with Witta (Genetics student, far left), Princess (Co-op alum and current employee, 2nd from right), and Dr. Wenjing He (Co-op supervisor, far right)
Timpog tells us that she sees her position in the Faculty of Science as an opportunity to represent her community in academia and the fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and show that Filipino Canadians belong in various capacities in science and make meaningful contributions in different ways.
Watch the full interview on the Faculty of Science’s YouTube channel to be inspired by Timpog and her work at the University of Manitoba.