Ms. Joy Santiago is a geographer and licensed environmental planner, currently serving as the only female Chief Science Research Specialist at the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute. She is also the Director of the Internal Audit Division at the Centre for Neighbourhood Studies Philippines. Ms. Santiago taught spatial analysis and cartography using geographic information systems at Miriam College for nearly a decade. She was a fellow at the American Geoscience Union Thriving Earth Exchange Program and the International Visitors Leaders Program for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. In 2016, Ms. Santiago was honoured with the European Geosciences Union Outstanding Student Poster and PICO Award for her team's project, "Development of Storm Surge Hazard Maps and Advisory System for the Philippines." Throughout her career in geography and environmental planning, Ms. Santiago has assisted local government units across the Philippines in formulating risk-informed land use and development plans.

Research spotlight:

Lagmay, A.M., Santiago, J.T., Mendoza, J.E. (2024). Mainstreaming Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. In: Berse, K.B., Pulhin, J.M., La Viña, A.G.M. (eds) Climate Emergency in the Philippines. Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Singapore.

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, and Liknayan Podcast.

Do you want to share your research? Sign up through this ⁠⁠form⁠⁠.

Michael Y. Roleda is a Professor at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. His passion for tropical seaweeds started in the early 1990s cataloguing their biodiversity and worked on the biology and biochemistry of an agarophyte, Gelidiella acerosa. Further graduate study and postdoctoral fellowships in Germany, Sweden, and Scotland enabled him to work on cold-temperate and polar seaweeds and microalgae with emphasis on their physiological responses to global climate change stressors (e.g., UVR, ablation-derived sedimentation, ocean warming and acidification, and eutrophication). In 2004, he went bipolar– participated in land-based expeditions to Spitsbergen in the Arctic and King George Island in the Antarctic. His search for a niche brought him to the Southern Ocean in New Zealand (2010) and then back to the North Atlantic in Norway (2014), where he started working on the food and feed applications of seaweeds. He came full circle in 2018– back in the Philippines working on the biodiversity of carrageenan-producing eucheumatoids (Kappaphycus spp., Eucheuma denticulatum, and Betaphycus gelatinus, among others), led and improved the in vitro and hatchery gene banks with >200 unique strains undergoing genotypic and phenotypic characterizations, understanding their ecological breath and susceptibility to pest and diseases, and innovating mitigating measures.

Follow the Algal Ecophysiology Laboratory

Know more about the 13th International Phycological Congress

Research spotlight:

Roleda, M.Y., Hinaloc, L.A.R., Capacio, I.T., Jao, M.C.B., Crisostomo, B.A. (2024). Reproductive Biology and Novel Cultivar Development of the Eucheumatoid Kappaphycus alvarezii. In: Critchley, A.T., Hurtado, A.Q., Neish, I.C. (eds) Tropical Phyconomy Coalition Development. Developments in Applied Phycology, vol 11. Springer, Cham.

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, and Liknayan Podcast.

Do you want to share your research? Sign up through this ⁠form⁠.

Engr. Eros Paul Estante is a licensed chemical engineer and academic researcher with over six years of experience specializing in life cycle assessment and carbon footprint accounting for agricultural commodities, organizations, and academic institutions. Currently, he works as a researcher at the University of the Philippines Los Baños Interdisciplinary Life Cycle Assessment Laboratory (UPLB-ICAL) and the University of the Philippines Los Baños Interdisciplinary Biofuels Research Studies Center (UPLB-IBRSC). His expertise includes conducting feasibility studies for bioethanol plants and optimizing processes through simulation. He is actively involved in a research project focused on diversifying feedstock for bioethanol production in the Philippines. Eros holds a master's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, where he was recognized as an Academic Achievement awardee. He also graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Philippines Visayas.

Visit the UPLB Interdisciplinary Life Cycle Assessment Laboratory

Article spotlight:

Estante EPV, Demafelis RB, Matanguihan AED, Magadia BT, Gomez CC, Nuñez CJE, Sumague JVS and Jamieson C. (2023). Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Low Carbon Rice Production System in Victoria, Laguna, Philippines. Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS) 2023, 48(1):41-53

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, and Liknayan Podcast.

Do you want to share your research? Sign up through this form.

Goldyn Anne A. Comisario is an academic who continuously commits to inspiring her students to achieve their best in life. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Fisheries at Central Luzon State University. She advanced her passion for diadromous fishes and higher education teaching by obtaining a Master of Science in Marine Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman, a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice at the University of Liverpool, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy at the Advance HE, United Kingdom. She is an Instructor III with positions as the Institute Secretary and On-the-Job Training Coordinator at Isabela State University-Main Campus. Aside from her active contribution to teaching and learning Fisheries in higher education, she also serves as a resource speaker for licensure exam reviews and leadership seminars. She is also a faculty researcher interested in diadromous fish migration and assessing contaminants in freshwater environments in Region 2.

Article spotlight:

Aquino, G. A. G., Cabaitan, P. C., & Secor, D. H. (2021). Locomotor activity and growth response of glass eel Anguilla marmorata exposed to different salinity levels. Fisheries Science, 87(2), 253-262.

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, and Liknayan Podcast.

Dr. Maricar Rabonza is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Asian School of the Environment and the Disaster Analytics for Society Lab at Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU). She obtained her PhD from NTU and has conducted research on time-dependent disaster risk modelling and quantification of risk reduction benefits. Her work led to the creation of the Averted Disaster Award, supported by the Understanding Risk Community and the World Bank. She holds a BSc and MSc in Civil-Geotechnical Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Before her PhD, she worked as a modeller for landslide susceptibility with the UP Resilience Institute and Project NOAH.

Article spotlight:

Rabonza ML, Lin YC, Lallemant D. 2022. Learning From Success, Not Catastrophe: Using Counterfactual Analysis to Highlight Successful Disaster Risk Reduction Interventions. Frontiers in Earth Science. 10. doi:10.3389/feart.2022.847196.

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, and Liknayan Podcast.

Mr. Jason Braga is working as an instructor at the Cavite State University-Main Campus. He is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Food Technology and Master of Science in Food Science and Technology from the Visayas State University in Leyte. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student of the Laboratory of Molecular Nutrition at the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University. His research interests are within the scope of food science like functional foods and product development. As for his PhD research, he is studying the effect of food factors (mainly prebiotics) on the improvement of the levels of brain compounds (gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA and homocarnosine) to promote good cognitive ability. His research also tackles on the communication of gut microbiota, the gut, and its interaction to the brain or the gut-brain axis. In 2022, he won the HIRAKU Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for the English Division, a competition for PhD students from different universities across Japan to showcase their research in manner that can be understood by general and non-specialist audience.

Article spotlight:

Braga, J.D., Thongngam, M. & Kumrungsee, T. (2024). Gamma-aminobutyric acid as a potential postbiotic mediator in the gut–brain axis. npj Sci Food 8, 16.

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, and Liknayan Podcast.

Mr. John Romel Flora is a former University Research Associate of the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) of the University of the Philippines – Diliman. He obtained his B.Sc. Geology degree from UP Diliman - NIGS, and is currently pursuing a graduate degree from the same institute. He is a member of the Engineering Geology Laboratory of Dr. Sandra Catane, with whom he has worked with on landslide geohazards.

Article spotlight: Catane, S.G., Flora J.R.R., Carag, J.M.W., Go, C.M.M., Capino, J.B., Panganiban, A.L.L. 2024. Development in an environmentally critical coastal area: The risk perception on natural hazards and the New Manila International Airport by fishing communities in Taliptip, Philippines. Ocean and Coastal Management.

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, and Liknayan Podcast.

Dr. Jabez Flores is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in UP Los Banos, Master of Environment and Natural Resources Management major in upland resources management in UP Open University, and Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science with a cognate in Development Communication in UPLB. He was a DOST-SEI graduate scholar and a SEARCA PhD Research Scholar. Jabez is an associate member of the National Research Council of the Philippines and a current member of the International Association for Landscape Ecology-Europe. He started "Permaculture Research PH" as a research initiative together with his friends and colleagues from his university. His research interests include agroecology, landscape ecology, GIS and drone photography, network science, and environmental communication. Currently, he works as a Senior Lecturer for UP Open University and UP Rural High School.

Article spotlight:

1. Flores JJM, Buot Jr. IE. 2021. The structure of permaculture landscapes in the Philippines. Biodiversitas 22: 2032-2044.
2. Flores JJM et al. 2023. An Emerging Network for Sustainable Agriculture: A Social Network Analysis of Permaculture Practitioners in the Philippines. International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development 14(1): 1-16.

#BehindTheSciencePodcast is presented to you by the Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub and UP Resilience Institute.