Behind The Science Podcast

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...

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 Cert...

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, suppo...

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.  Hi...

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...

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...

Dr. Angel T. Bautista VII is a Scientist I and the current Section Head of the Nuclear Materials Research Section of the DOST – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute. He obtained his BS Chemistry and MS Environmental Science degrees from UP Diliman, and PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Management from the University of Tokyo. He has been working at DOST-PNRI since 2009, where he specializes in the e...

Khelly is previously a part of the Volcano-Tectonics laboratory of UP-NIGS. He holds a graduate degree in Geology from the University of the Philippines, along with undergraduate degrees in Geology and Geological Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology. Together with Dr. Mahar Lagmay and Dr. Sotiris Valkaniotis, they harnessed satellite data to quantify ground movements caused by the magnit...

Mr. Rodney Pino is an MS Graduate Fellow under the CIP program of the DOST-SEI, currently deployed at the Institute of Mathematics, UP Diliman. He earned his bachelor's degree from Cebu Technological University and completed his master's in applied mathematics at UP Diliman. Rodney's research focuses on optical character recognition (OCR) of the Filipino pre-colonial script, Baybayin,...

Ms. Joey Cabasan discusses the importance of the Kalayaan Island Group and the Scarborough Shoal on the capture fisheries production in the country. She also shares her experiences during the various research cruises they conducted during these studies. Joey is currently a Project Technical Specialist at the University of the Philippines Mindanao under the Coral Reef Resiliency and Ecology Studies...

Dr. Janneli Lea A. Soria is a geologist and science educator. She received her PhD in Earth Science from the Asian School of the Environment and a post-doctoral research fellowship from the Earth Observatory of Singapore, both at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She also holds an MS and Bachelors in Geology from UP Diliman. She collaborates with other geologists, oceanographers, engi...

Ms. Carmille Escape shares some of her work during the past 10 years with Project NOAH. She also shares their study about the cause of the 2018 Naga City landslide in Cebu. Ms. Escape currently works as a Surveying, GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist with the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES). Featured article: Lagmay AMF, Escape CM, Ybañez AA, Suarez JK, Cuaresma G. 202...

Dr. Cynthia Saloma of the UP - National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology recalls the events during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses the role of the Philippine Genome Center in the COVID-19 response. This podcast is co-presented by the UP Diliman College of Science, and the UP Resilience Institute.

Dr. Mahar Lagmay of the UP - Resilience Institute shares their recent findings about the tephra fall and base surge deposits from the 2020 Taal eruption. He also shares how he became a scientist and some notable contributions of Filipino volcanologists in the field of volcanology. Featured articles: Lagmay et al. (2021). Hazardous base surges of Taal’s 2020 eruption . Scientific Reports 11(1):1570...

Dr. Fernando P. Siringan of the UP - Marine Science Institute shares how he started his research on submarine groundwater discharge 20 years ago and the subsequent studies he conducted with his students in Lingayen Gulf, Manila Bay, Verde Island Passage and Laguna Lake. The featured articles can be downloaded from Dr. Siringan's Google Scholar account . This episode is co-presented by the UP D...

Dr. Likha Minimo of the UP - Resilience Institute discussed volcanic hazards such as debris avalanches and how she modeled the Buhi Debris Avalanche in Iriga Volcano that happened in 1520±30 BP. This debris avalanche was responsible for the formation of the Buhi Lake. Featured article: Minimo and Lagmay (2016). 3D modeling of the Buhi debris avalanche deposit of Iriga Volcano, Philippines by integ...

Dr. Michelle Eusebio of the UP - Science and Society Program shares how she transitioned from chemistry in college to pursuing a doctorate in anthropology majoring in archeology; and how she uses her background in organic geochemistry to analyze pottery samples to look for plants in ancient cuisine. Featured articles: Eusebio et al. (2015). Rice pots or not? Exploring ancient Ifugao foodways throu...

Mr. Richard Ybañez, M.Sc. of the UP - Resilience Institute shares his experience with using commercial drones for their quick response assessment after the 2019 Central Luzon Earthquake, 2019 Cotabato Earthquakes, and 2020 Taal Eruption. Featured article: Ybañez RL et al. 2021. Imaging ground surface deformations in post-disaster settings via small UAVs . Geoscience Letters, 8(1), 23. This episode...

Dr. Maricor Soriano of the UP Diliman - National Institute of Physics shares her expertise in video and image processing and how the Guimaras oil spill in 2006 inspired her to work on a way to rapidly assess coral reefs using underwater cameras. Featured article: Corpuz FJ et al. 2012. Rapid shallow coastal coral reef mapping using the teardrop system . In 2012 Oceans (pp. 1-6). IEEE. This episode...

Dr. Grace Gregorio of the UP Diliman - Institute of Chemistry talks about the need to study the chemistry of our alcoholic drinks to improve the lambanog industry and other traditional alcoholic beverages like tapuy, basi, and tuba. Featured article: Gregorio CG et al. 2020. Towards the Establishment of Baseline Scientific Information Based on the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) of Philippine Tr...

Ms. Shyrill Mariano talks about how she ventured from geology to marine science, as well as her master's thesis on the emerging pollutants in key aquatic environments in the Philippines. Featured article: Mariano SMF, Angeles LF, Aga DS, Villanoy CL, Caroline M.B. Jaraula. 2023. Emerging pharmaceutical contaminants in key aquatic environments of the Philippines . Frontiers in Earth Science. 11...

Dr. Noelynna T. Ramos, Professor and OIC-Director of the University of the Philippines - National Institute of Geological Sciences, shares her on-the-ground experience and research motivation in searching for tsunami deposits in the Philippines. Featured article: Claro SMD, Ramos NT, Fernando AGS, Ishimura D, Switzer AD. 2021. Sedimentological evidence of washover deposits from extreme wave events...

Dr. Bernard Alan Racoma, an instructor from the University of the Philippines - Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, shares the story behind his research on the effect of mountain ranges on typhoons. Featured article: Racoma BA, Holloway CE, Schiemann R, Feng X, Bagtasa G. 2023. The Effect of the Cordillera Mountain Range on Tropical Cyclone Rainfall in the Northern Philippines . At...