During the same period and into the middle of the 1900s, notable professors and university alumni made contributions to fields such as bacteriology, botany, freshwater biology, and genetics, among others, even though, as Papa noted, there was no “formal research agenda in the University until the establishment of the UST Research Center in 1962.” Despite the “supporting” roles that biologists were relegated to when research focus shifted to applied research, Papa noted the “renaissance from the 2000s onwards,” which culminated in the establishment of “Biodiversity, Ecology, Systematics, and Taxonomy (BEST) as a recognized research cluster in the university, contributing significantly to the university’s research productivity and providing important scientific data.”

Entitled “On Biodiversity: History, Heritage, and Research in Asia,” the hybrid conference was organized by NUS’s Asia Research Institute with support from Yale-NUS College. Papa, a limnologist by profession, has published 75 research articles in local and international peer-reviewed journals, as well as book chapters and textbooks. A freshwater zooplankton ecology and systematics specialist, he is the National Ambassador of the Philippines to the International Society of Limnology.

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Three program aims to produce an objective and comprehensive assessment of true mangroves, invasive plants, native trees, and protists (myxomycetes and oomycetes). According to Dagamac, who leads the team, the plant-based assessments that they will perform “would help build policy recommendations [for] sustainable resource development for mangroves and its associates, native trees, and protists.” The project may also lead to the crafting of conservation and risk communication plans and the implementation of related strategies by the local government units. Among the communication tools targeted for creation are educational info materials and local seminars.

The team will engage in field work, laboratory work, herbarium work, mapping/modeling, and diversity analysis in order to generate physic-chemical data, sampling protocols, risk perceptions, and economic valuation questionnaires. 

The project will officially commence in January 2022 and end in December 2023 and is funded by the National Research Council of the Philippines. Technical support was provided by the CENRO-San Fernando City, La Union.

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