HIGHLIGHTS: 31st Summer Institute in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Itโs a wrap! The Department of Biology extends its sincere gratitude to all participants, organizers, and personnel whose efforts contributed to the success of the 31st Summer Institute in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics (SINSM), held on April 16โ18, 2026, at the University of the Philippines Baguio. We especially celebrate the 33 participants who joined us in exploring new concepts and techniques in microbial and fungal DNA isolation, PCR amplification, gel electrophoresis, and basic bioinformatics. Your enthusiasm and engagement made this yearโs SINSM both insightful and productive. The photos below capture some of the highlights of this enriching experience. We look forward to welcoming you again in next yearโs SINSM! We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-3 (Good Health and Well-being); SDG-4 (Quality Education); SDG-5 (Gender Equality); SDG-6 (Clean Water and Sanitation); SDG-9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure); SDG-11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); SDG-13 (Climate Action); SDG-14 (Life on Water); SDG-15 (Life on Land); SDG-17 (Partnership for Goals)
The Department of Biology, with the College of Science, kicks off the 31st SINSM
The Department of Biology, along with other departments in the College of Science, kicks off the 31st Summer Institute in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics (SINSM). This year, the Department of Biology warmly welcomes our 33 participants from various educational institutions. We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-3 (Good Health and Well-being); SDG-4 (Quality Education); SDG-5 (Gender Equality); SDG-6 (Clean Water and Sanitation); SDG-9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure); SDG-11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); SDG-13 (Climate Action); SDG-14 (Life on Water); SDG-15 (Life on Land); SDG-17 (Partnership for Goals)
New paper out entitled โYouth networks as bridging actors in environmental governance: Roles, achievements and barriersโ
The Department of Biology is proud to share a recent publication by our BS Bio alumnus and former faculty member, Deign Frolley Soriano. The paper is entitled “Youth networks as bridging actors in environmental governance: Roles, achievements and barriers” Congratulations! The full paper may be accessed through the following links:Full Article: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70302Plain Language Summary: https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2026/03/20/plain-language-summary-youth-networks-are-key-but-overlooked-actors-in-environmental-governance/ We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-10 (Reduced Inequalities); SDG-11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); SDG-13 (Climate Action); SDG-17 (Partnership for Goals)
BS Biology Graduates pass the 2026 Philippine Academy of Microbiology (PAM), Inc. Certification Exam for Registered Microbiologist
The Department of Biology proudly congratulates our newly registered microbiologists! Your achievement is a testament to your dedication, perseverance, and passion for advancing the field of microbiology. As you step forward in your professional journey, may you continue to uphold excellence, contribute to scientific innovation, and make meaningful impacts in research, public health, and environmental sustainability. Passing the Philippine Academy of Microbiology (PAM) Certification Examination designates passers as Registered Microbiologists (RMicro). Padayon, mga Iskolar ng Bayan! We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-4 (Quality Education); SDG-8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
Department of Biology Faculty elected as President of the Asian Society for Natural Products โ Philippine Chapter for the 2026โ2027 term
The Department of Biology proudly congratulates one of its faculty members, Asst. Prof. Racquel C. Barcelo, on her election as President of the Asian Society for Natural Products โ Philippine Chapter for the 2026โ2027 term. We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-4 (Quality Education); SDG-5 (Gender Equality); SDG-8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)
The Department of Biology adopts a four-day work week arrangement starting March 16, 2026.
To our stakeholders and visitors, please be informed of the adjusted office hours for the Department of Biology.We respectfully request that you take note of these changes and schedule your visits and transactions accordingly. Thank you. We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); SDG-12 (Responsible Consumption and Production)
New paper out entitled “Antagonistic Endophytic Fungi against Blue Stain-associated Fungus from Benguet Pine (Pinus kesiya Royle ex Gordon) in Benguet, Philippines”
The Department of Biology is proud to share a recent publication by our MS CaRE alumna, Ms. Shirley Jaene S. Valdez, co-authored with Prof. Rosemary M. Gutierrez, a retired faculty member of the Department. The paper entitled โ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ช ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ-๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ (๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐บ๐ข ๐๐ฐ๐บ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ) ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ดโ is an output of Ms. Valdezโs MS thesis, completed under the guidance of her adviser, Prof. Rosemary M. Gutierrez. Congratulations to the authors! The full paper may be accessed through the following link: https://philjournalsci.dost.gov.ph/antagonistic-endophytic-fungi-against-blue-stain-associated-fungus-from-benguet-pine-pinus-kesiya-royle-ex-gordon-in-benguet-the-philippines/ We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-4 (Quality Education); SDG-15 (Life on Land)
Department of Biology celebrates International Women’s Day
๐ .๐ .: ๐ฟ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ค๐ก๐ค๐๐ฎ extends warm greetings to every woman on this International Womenโs Day! We invite everyone to take this occasion to celebrate the hardworking women who inspire and uplift our lives. Today, we also offer special appreciation to the Diwatas of Biology, whose dedication and leadership guide our advocacies for environmental sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and an integrative One Health approachโtrue modern-day ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐บ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด in the pursuit of knowledge and stewardship. We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-5 (Gender Equality)
Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong students visit the Department of Biology
The Department of Biology warmly welcomed students from Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong during their academic visit on March 4, 2026. The visit was coordinated by the Departmentโs Graduate Program Coordinator, Jeno Rey Pagaduan, who facilitated the engagement between the visiting students and members of the department with some MS CaRE students. The Department of Biology extends its appreciation to Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong for the opportunity for academic exchange and looks forward to strengthening collaboration in the future. We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-4 (Quality Education); SDG-17 (Partnership for Goals)
Department of Biology Scholars Receive DOST-NRCP Young Scientists Research Grant
The Department of Biology proudly celebrates another significant milestone achieved by our faculty and students. Asst. Prof. Kimberly Paglingayen, faculty member of the Department of Biology; Ms. Alhea Jei Cotelo, Teaching Associate; and Mr. Melvin Jake Manaog, MS Conservation and Restoration Ecology (MS CaRE) student, have been recipients of the Young Scientists Research Grant from the Department of Science and Technology โ National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP). As Young Scientists Research Grantees, they will undertake the following research projects: ๐๐๐๐. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ. ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ด๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป (๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐): โ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด: ๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโ ๐ ๐. ๐๐น๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ถ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ (๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐): โ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ถ๐ด๐ค๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ: ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฐ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ดโ ๐ ๐ฟ. ๐ ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ผ๐ด (๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐): โ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ก๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ดโ These young scientists are under the mentorship of Prof. Zenaida G. Baoanan, who will guide them in the implementation and advancement of their respective research initiatives. The Department of Biology looks forward to strengthening its collaboration with DOST-NRCP through these research partnerships. Through these linkages, we aim to further advance evidence-based management strategies that contribute to the conservation, restoration, and sustainable stewardship of our invaluable natural resources. We support the Sustainable Development GoalsSDG-4 (Quality Education); SDG-8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)