THE GROUP
Aletta T. Yñiguez
BiOME head/Professor
Aletta is a biological oceanographer interested in the interaction of organisms and their environment especially how these relate to marine productivity and harmful algal blooms. She is fascinated in capturing these interactions and conducts experiments using empirical biophysical models.In the lab, various field activities and lab experiments are conducted aiming to fill in gaps identified through the modeling exercise. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Florida, USA.
Andalus Punongbayan
Ph.D. student/
Research Assistant
Asa’s research interests include developing or applying existing quantitative approaches to support management of coral reefs. Her previous work focused on modelling fine scale (centimetres to metres) community dynamics in degraded and restored reef patches.
Iris Bollozos
Ph.D. student/
Research Assistant
Iris was involved in a project entitled, Shelf-Pacific Interaction in Luzon (SPIL), which looks into the influence of the bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current (into the Kuroshio and Mindanao currents) on the shelf processes in the eastern coast of Luzon, as part of her doctoral dissertation. She aims to determine how these processes affect plankton assemblages and their link to the fisheries in the Bicol shelf. She is currently involved in the CoRe Tool Project, which aims to produce a prototype of a low cost, rapid reef assessment tool.
Kristina Cordero-Bailey
Ph.D. student
Pach’s current research focuses on the vertical distribution of plankton in the Philippine Sea and she seeks to understand how plankton interactions are affected by physical disturbances such as storms and monsoons. She is also affiliated with the Ocean Color and Coastal Oceanography laboratory where she works on ocean remote sensing and capacity building of regional DENR personnel.
Gianina Cassandra May Apego
Master's student/
Research Assistant
Giannina is part of a DENR-funded project that explores biological components of the West Philippine Sea. Her research interest focuses on phytoplankton ecology hence her thesis, partially funded by the Rufford Foundation and National Geographic, will investigate on the mechanism that drives the productivity in Donsol.
Patrick Lawrence Cadeliña
Master's student/
Research Assistant
Terk is currently involved in the National Assessment of Coral Reef Environments program of the DOST, specifically in the development of a low-cost, rapid underwater survey tool named ARAICoBeH (A Rapid Assessment Instrument for Coastal Benthic Habitats).
Ma. Rica Teresa Dungog
Master's student/
Research Assistant
Rica is part of a Department of Science and Technology-PCAARRD funded project that aims to determine the linkage of harmful algal blooms with weather phenomena, particularly the ENSO. Her thesis is funded by a project grant from The Rufford Foundation and National Geographic Society. She focuses on the zooplankton community of the waters of Donsol, Sorsogon and its possible relationship with the seasonal aggregation of whale sharks in the area.
Eunice Gianan
Master's student
Eunice is currently a Research Assistant for a project funded by the OML Research Center under Ateneo de Manila University. She is interested in the biology of mangroves, its goods and ecosystem services specifically the “regulatory natural processes” such as carbon sequestration and coastal protection. For her thesis, she aims to study and develop an ecological model that will simulate the impacts of sea level rise in the spatial distribution, growth and survival of mangroves in Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA).
Mary Rose Lopez
Master's student
Using individual-based modeling to understand the patch dynamics of Thalassia hemprichii along a nutrient gradient in Bolinao, Pangasinan, NW Philippines
Jennifer Mary Maister
Master's student/
Research Assistant
Jenny’s current research interests are ecosystem modelling in relation to harmful algal blooms (HABs) in near-shore coastal areas and how this affects toxin dynamics during shellfish poisoning events. Previous and current project work with DOST-PCAARD is centered on the mitigation and prevention of HABs in specific parts of the Philippines using biophysical models, laboratory experiments and consistent monitoring of HABs in the field.
Paolo Calalang
Master's student/
Research Assistant
Paolo is currently part of a DOST-PCAARRD funded project that investigates the potential impacts of trace metals as well as nutrient inputs from aerosol deposition on the structuring of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in phytoplankton communities. As for his research interest and thesis, his work mainly focuses on the implications of CO2-induced acidification on the growth and physiology of a HAB (Alexandrium minutum) and non-HAB (Chaetoceros calcitrans) representative species in both monocultures and mixed cultures
Reine Cabreira
Master's student
Reine is a Research Associate who has worked on several projects primarily involving coral reef surveys. She is interested in the way that stressors influence hard coral populations and what this might mean for their future. Her thesis examines changes in the size structure of selected corals in Talim Bay, Batangas over a decade and utilizes simple models to demonstrate how these populations might change under various scenarios.
Alumni
Marianne Camoying
Master's thesis: Characterization of phytoplankton spatial variability in two key sardine fishery areas in the Philippines using FLOWCAM
Patrick Pata
Master's thesis: Philippine coral reef connectivity and network analysis
John Kristoffer Andres
Master's thesis: Saxitoxin uptake, assimilation, depuration, and analogue changes of the Southeast Asian Green-lipped Mussel (Perna viridis): https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11080468
