The UP Diliman REPS Chair and REPS Awards aims to recognize the achievements of the REPS in the fields of research and creative work, extension services, and professional public service. These awards also aim to encourage REPS to advance knowledge and learning in their respective fields, establish scientific and thought laboratories, and develop collaborative programs that support UP’s mandate as the nation’s leading research university.

 

Three researchers from the UPD-CS Natural Sciences Research Institute (NSRI) earned the REPS Chair Awards. Meanwhile, one researcher each from NSRI, UPD-CS Marine Science Institute (MSI) and the UPD-CS National Institute of Physics (NIP), along with two from the UPD-CS Institute of Biology (IB), received the REPS Awards.

 

REPS Chair Awards Recipients

 

Dr. Charita S. Kwan is the head of NSRI’s Research and Analytical Services Laboratory. She has over 20 years of experience in projects related to environmental and analytical chemistry, with a focus on the distribution, fate, and transport of organic micropollutants.

 

Dr. Pierangeli G. Vital is the head of NSRI’s Biological Research and Services Laboratory. She has over a decade of experience in research and teaching within the field of environmental microbiology and food safety, publishing multiple articles in international peer-reviewed journals and papers.

 

Dr. Maria Corazon A. De Ungria is the head of NSRI’s DNA Analysis Laboratory. Her research focuses on human genetic diversity and leveraging DNA as a tool for human identification in criminal investigations, prosecuting sexual offenders and preventing wrongful convictions.

REPS Awards Recipients

 

Mary Ann Cielo R. San Diego is a registered microbiologist of NSRI’s Microbiological Research and Services Laboratory. Her research centers on wastewater microbiology, specifically the community and functional profiling of microorganisms in wastewater treatment plants.

 

John Michael L. Lastimoso is an Assistant Herbarium Curator of the Gregorio T. Velasquez Phycological Herbarium and a member of the Marine Phycology Laboratory at MSI, where he conducts biodiversity and systematics research on Indo-West Pacific macroalgae.

 

Dr. Hannah R. Bardolaza assists with the operation and maintenance of equipment in NIP’s Femtosecond Laser Laboratory. Her research focuses on materials science, specifically materials and devices for terahertz science and technology applications.

 

Melizar V. Duya is a university researcher in IB’s Biodiversity Research Laboratory. She has authored and co-authored publications on Philippine wildlife, including new species descriptions, and contributed to developing and identifying Key Biodiversity Areas in the country.

 

Mae Ashley G. Nacario is a university researcher in IB’s Pathogen-Host-Environment Interactions Research Laboratory. Her focus is on Environmental Microbiology, with a specialization in Microbial Source Tracking. She has already published 7 manuscripts in various Scopus-indexed journals.

Harriet Jane R. Caleja-Ballesteros is the sole staff member of IC’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility.  Since 2019, she has managed to run around 3000 NMR samples for clients while doing research projects, mainly on quantitative NMR spectroscopy.

Joel I. Ballesteros is one of the three REPS of IC’s Analytical Services Laboratory (ASL). He got his BS and MS degrees from the same Institute and is currently finishing his dissertation on spectroscopy and chemometrics while working as a full-time university research associate.

The REPS Chair and REPS Awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 9:00 AM, at the GT Toyota Auditorium, Asian Center, as part of the REPS Colloquium and General Assembly program. The recipients will be awarded with a plaque of recognition and a cash prize.