UP, UST scientists set expedition to Taal Volcano Island
BATANGAS, Philippines — A team of biology and earth scientists from the University of the Philippines Diliman and the University of Santo Tomas are set to go to Taal Volcano Island and visit the lakeshore communities of Taal Lake for a research expedition on December 5.
Under the Agham ng Bulkang Taal program, the teams will be conducting studies on how they can help the landowners, lakeshore communities and LGUs manage and sustain the lake and volcano resources.
An initiative of the FAITH Botanic Gardens Foundation, Inc. and FAITH Colleges (First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities), this expedition is envisioned as an initial step in mobilizing the academe to work with stakeholders in understanding how to care for, nurture, and develop local resources.
FAITH Colleges, a donee of about 176 hectares of titled land within Taal Volcano Island, is preparing a management plan that will gradually develop the property as a nature conservancy area.
Among the components of this plan is a living laboratory of ecological and diversity conservation for local students and researchers.
The Taal Volcano Island Conservancy Science Expedition will be led by Lillian Rodriguez, Ph.D. of the UP Terrestrial Research of Ecology and Evolution Laboratory (TREE Lab); Mario Aurelio, Ph.D., director of UP National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS); Alexander Young, Ph.D., professorial fellow of the UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM); and Rey Donne Papa, Ph.D., dean of the UST College of Science.
The participating scientists have been involved in various research efforts covering conservation ecology, wildlife biology, insect conservation and diversity, Philippine mollusk, freshwater pollution, human genome project, and the discovery of the Philippine Rise (Benham Rise).
In particular, the UST Freshwater Biology scientists have been working with Taal Lake communities in past decades to study and monitor the conditions of lake waters.
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