THE Biology Department of the Silliman University hosted five students from the United States who took part in an immersive experience focused on conservation research and management in the Philippines.

The students from the University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University, University of Maine, and Barry University were invited under the Philippines International Research Experience for Students project.

The students conducted research on determining influences of fishing pressure on the life history of a marine fish, genetic barcoding of freshwater and estuarine fish biodiversity, elucidating cryptic speciation in the blue swimming crab Portunus pelagicus, and developing genetic markers for the critically-endangered Philippine spotted deer Rusa alfredi.

Biology Department faculty members Dr. Nadia Palomar-Abesamis, Dr. Robert Guino-o II, Asst. Prof. Michael Lawton Alcala, and Asst. Prof. Persie Sienes served as the students’ mentors.

US-based scientists Dr. David Gauthier from Old Dominion University, Dr. Christopher Bird and Kevin Labrador from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, also provided technical assistance and capacity-building activities to both US and Filipino students.

Now in its second year of implementation, the PH-IRES is a collaborative project between SU, ODU, and TAMUCC. It was funded by the United States National Science Foundation.

The project aims to develop scientific linkages between the institutions and allow US undergraduate students to conduct independent research with Filipino mentors and interact with Filipino undergraduate biology students.

It also emphasizes collaboration among cultures and the development of world-class skills, particularly in the fields of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial conservation research and management in the Philippines.