Ask Theory

Jose Emmanuel De Luna is a licensed agriculturist and has a master’s degree in Entomology (Insecticide Toxicology) from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. He is an Assistant Professor 3 at the university’s Institute of Weed Science, Entomology and Plant Pathology under the College of Agriculture and Food Science. As an entomologist, he is involved in various projects related to the bio-e...

Jayvee Moltio is a nurse who currently works as a public health practitioner specializing in health promotion and communication in a government hospital. He is pursuing a PhD in Indigenous Studies, focusing on Medical Anthropology, at the University of the Philippines Baguio. He has received prestigious awards, including the Presidential Lingkod Bayan from the Civil Service Commission. He has been...

Trigger warning: This audio essay contains mentions of suicide and mental health issues. Do you consider yourself a workaholic? You might want to take a moment to rethink that. There is a difference between working hard and being addicted to work — and confusing the latter for the former can have lethal results. FULL TRANSCRIPT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13OZNzC3CY7FfCy9VzVVkQ3uaroMlbjbVV...

Al John “AJ” Cabanas is a college instructor and a former radio DJ. He took up MS Wildlife Studies minor in Animal Science at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. His research interests include camera trapping and human-wildlife interaction. He is working on a project which mainly involves studying the ecology of Philippine endemic wild pigs.  We talked about using camera trapping for envi...

Any plant or animal species brought into a completely unfamiliar environment via human intervention, whether intentionally or accidentally, is considered nonnative. Things start turning ugly, though, when a nonnative species turns invasive. FULL TRANSCRIPT: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fv2aiX2TcliUvWBjs5vy35SW_4jWHTzmnWEtPihgt-8/edit?usp=sharing Note: The cane toad was erroneously described...

Dr. Erees Queen "Reese" Macabebe is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University. She heads the Ateneo Energy Research Lab. Her research interests include Renewable Energy with expertise in Photovoltaics, Energy Management and Analytics. In 2020, she received the Outstanding Young Scient...

Alyssa Marie Gimenez is a doctoral student studying Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley pursuing a career in scientific research and academia. Her career interests focus on bridging global public health disparity research with cellular/molecular biology to advance health equity, literacy, and academic opportunity in underrepresented South-East Asian communities bot...

Dr. Nikki Heherson Dagamac is a long-term Balik-Scientist at the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science at the University of Santo Tomas. He translated his expertise in the fields of basic and applied ecology, evolution, and genetics in the development of the course plans of various technical courses in the Biology program. His knowledge on machine learning, ecological modeling and...

Juan Salvador "Duno" Dantis is a chemical biologist taking his PhD studies at UC Irvine, and is the Co-Director of Events and Communications at GradMAP Philippines. His research under the Darci Trader lab involves elucidating the mechanisms by which proteasome activity modulates neurodegeneration and how this can be leveraged as a novel therapeutic avenue for protein aggregation diseases...

Dr. Jabez Joshua Flores is an Environmental and GIS Specialist with a doctorate degree in Environmental Science from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. He has also taken intensive landscape ecology courses at the International Association for Landscape Ecology in Italy. We talked about permaculture and health, unconventional paths to science careers, how to effectively communicate numeri...

Dr. Aries Arugay is the Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science of the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Asian Politics & Policy, an international Scopus-indexed journal on regional affairs. In 2020, he was the sole social scientist to receive the Outstanding Young Scientist Award from the National Academy of Science & Technology, f...

Dr. Francis Aldrine Uy has been the Dean of the School of Civil, Environmental and Geological Engineering at Mapua University, Manila for 15 years. He is the founder of USHER (Universal Structural Health Evaluation and Recording System) Technologies Inc., specializing in applying technological measures that can assess the health and safety of buildings for disaster risk reduction. We talked about...

Dr. Susan Gallardo is a retired professor of Chemical Engineering at De La Salle University (DLSU). In 2019, she received the David M. Consunji Award for Engineering Research for her work in environmental engineering and catalysis, as well as industrial and hazardous waste treatment and management. She is actively involved in community service and organizations like JSPS Alumni Association, Associ...

Deign Frolley Soriano is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology, University of the Philippines Baguio. He has been part of several research projects including biodiversity assessments in urban forests, island ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems across Northern Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region. He actively engages with various environmental NGOs and socio-civic organizatio...

Dr. Andreia Carrillo is a postdoctoral research associate at the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, where she works as a galactic archaeologist. She studies the formation of our own Galaxy, the Milky Way, using data from real stars and from simulated universes.  We talked about what a galactic archaeologist does, what makes humanity want to look up at the stars so much, th...

Dr. Luis Razon is an adjunct professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering of De La Salle University. He worked in the food industry from 1987 to 2001, after which he returned to DLSU. There, he also served as the Director of the University Research Coordination Office (URCO). In addition, he has been an RD Lead of the National Research Council of the Philippines and a Section Editor-in-Chie...

The discovery of well-preserved mammoth remains across Europe has made genetic material from the behemoth more accessible. Paired with continued advancements in gene-editing technology, it’s becoming increasingly possible for the prehistoric creatures to make a comeback. Indeed, the question of species de-extinction, also known as resurrection biology, is steadily becoming less about how to do it…...

Dr. Renier Mendoza is an Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Institute of Mathematics, University of the Philippines Diliman, where he earned his MS in Applied Mathematics. He holds a doctorate from the Karl-Franzens University of Graz in Austria, and recently completed postdoctoral work at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea. His research focuses on numerical optimization, numer...

More than a quarter-century has passed since the Ozone Disco fire, an incident that left a lasting scar on the history of the Philippines. In the years to come, it will undoubtedly continue to remind us of the very real dangers of fire. But what were the factors that made this tragedy one of the deadliest nightclub fires in the world?

Dr. Kathleen Aviso is a University Fellow and a Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering at De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. She is also the current Dean of the Gokongwei College of Engineering of the university. Her main research interest is the development of decision support tools for environmental decision-making. We talked about process systems engineering and climate c...

Dr. Chona VinceCruz-Abeledo is a scientist, teacher, and science communicator from the Philippines. She leads a team of brilliant researchers who develop innovations that help fishers and farmers produce more with less, and the technologies they create are at the nexus of molecular biology, genetics, ecology, big data, machine learning, and information technology. She is also the creator of the sc...

Celebrating how far women have come plays a crucial role in fueling the ongoing quest to reject and resist gender inequality in all forms, especially in the field of science in the Philippines. And there are few better ways to honor and celebrate Pinays in STEM than by learning about some of the greatest scientists in Philippine history. This episode of the Ask Theory podcast was made possible by...

Magmula noon hanggang ngayon, malaki ang papel na ginagampanan ng mga babaeng scientist sa patuloy na pag-unlad ng Pilipinas at ng mga mamamayan nito. Kilalanin ang ilan sa mga Pinay scientist ng nakaraan at kasalukuyan, at alamin kung bakit kailangan ng mas maraming babaeng scientist sa Pilipinas para sa mas magandang kinabukasan ng bayan. This episode of the Ask Theory podcast was made possible...

With its long, wavy coat of mostly white fur, lustrous eyes, drooping ears, and jet-black nose, the Manilla Spaniel is - was - as magnificent as it is mysterious. But what happened to this "lost breed" of Philippine dog? How did a dog that enjoyed massive popularity over a century ago just vanish without a trace? And was it really a legitimate, unique dog breed in the first place?

Ang Kaliwa Dam ay bahagi ng tinatawag na New Centennial Water Source Program na naglalayong solusyonan ang kakulangan ng tubig sa Metro Manila. Naging matunog ang pangalan ng proyektong ito sa mga nakaraang taon, bunsod ng lumalalang krisis sa tubig sa Metro Manila. Pero bakit nga ba mariing tinututulan ng iba’t ibang grupo ang Kaliwa Dam? Posible nga ba na ang isang proyektong isinusulong upang s...