UST research outputs on freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems presented in national symposium

Academic and research staff and students of the University of Santo Tomas participated during the 3rd Philippine Symposium on Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystem (PSFBE) held from November 9 to 11, 2022, at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).
Thomasian participants presented various research works on Philippine freshwater micro- and macroinvertebrates, the feeding ecology of the endemic Sardinella tawilis of Lake Taal and methane dynamics in tropical lakes.
During the said event, Mr. John Claude Renan B. Salluta, M.Sc., a research assistant of the UST Taal PEER Program won the Best Oral Presentation (Graduate Category) with his paper titled “Macroinvertebrate assemblages and functional traits in ashfall-impacted littoral zones of Lake Taal after the Taal Volcano eruption in January 2020”.
Salluta’s research was part of the NRCP-funded Taal Post-eruption Ecological Research (PEER) Program under Asst. Prof. Jonathan Carlo A. Briones, Ph.D., of the College of Science and the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences in collaboration with Prof. Francis S. Magbanua of the University of the Philippines – Diliman.
The Philippine Society for Freshwater Science (PSFS) organized the 3rd PSFBE together with this year’s host, ADMU, which co-presented the 3rd iteration of the PSFBE together with BIO-PHIL, the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability, Asean Universities Network-Ecological Education and Culture (AUN-EEC), International Society of Limnology (through the Working Group on Asian Tropical Inland Waters) and the Southeast Asian Limnology Network (SEALNet).
The University of Santo Tomas, through the College of Science also served as a co-organizer of this event together with the University of the Philippines (Diliman and Los Baños), the Laguna Lake Development Authority, the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute and the Philippine National Museum.
UST has played an important role in the establishment of the Philippine Symposium on Freshwater Biodiversity and Ecosystems. The current set of officers of the Philippine Society for Freshwater Science include Thomasians such as Prof. Rey Donne S. Papa, Ph.D. (Vice President; UST), Asst. Prof. Jonathan Carlo A. Briones, Ph.D. (Liaison Officer; UST), Asst. Prof. Milette Mendoza-Pascual, Ph.D. (PRO; ADMU) and Ms. Jhaydee Ann Pascual, M.Sc. (Treasurer; National Museum).