The Museum of Natural History conducted its first planning meeting for the year last 08 January 2016 at Cuyab Hot Springs Resort in Calamba City, Laguna.

Dr. Juan Carlos Gonzalez, Director, opened the program by highlighting the accomplishments of the Museum in 2015.

MNH staff on the other hand reported the status of the following: Researches and Projects, Extension and MNH Services, Academic Programs and Linkages, Collections Management, MNH Publications, Curator Appointments, and Income and Administration/Procurement.

A new species of cone-headed stick insect from Western Samar has been formally described by Dr. Ireneo L. Lit, Jr. and Mr. Orlando L. Eusebio in an article published by Germany-based journal ARTHROPODA Generalis this October 2015. Lit and Eusebio are Curator and staff, respectively of the UPLB Museum of Natural History Entomology Section. Dr. Lit is also a Professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences of the University of the Philippines Los Banos.

According to Lit and Eusebio, the new species Loxopsis waray is the third Philippine species of Loxopsis; the first two came from Mindanao and were described in 2012 by Joachim Bresseel of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

The discovery, by myrmecologist David Emmanuel M. General of the UPLB Museum of Natural History, of two new species of ants, was recently announced by Myrmecological News in its September 2015 issue. The two species represent a new genus, Aretridis, composed of “ground-foraging ants apparently restricted to elevations above 900 meters above sea level.” The new genus name combines two Greek words arête (excellence) and idris (ant).

UPLB, through the UPLB Museum of Natural History and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Extension hosted the meeting of the Philippine Red List Committee’s Technical Working Sub-group on Insects last 17 September at the OVCRE Annex Building, UPLB, College, Laguna.

The Philippine Red List Committee is a body formed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to assess and determine the conservation status of Philippine wildlife and plants.

The UPLB Museum of Natural History, represented by its management, curators and staff, is saddened and disheartened by the killing of Pamana, one of few remaining Great Philippine Eagles in the wild. The murder of one of the world’s greatest raptors, once described by aviator Charles Lindbergh as the Earth’s noblest flier, is a senseless act of unimaginative proportions.

Pamana died at a young age of 3 years of a bullet that went through its breast. Pamana was female, essential for the gene pool of a beleaguered, critically-endangered species. As an essential top canopy predator, Pamana could have been in the future an important part of the ecological health of the Mt. Hamiguitan Mountain Range.

MIRI, SARAWAK: The inaugural National Hornbill Conference 2015 has been hailed as a viable platform for those undertaking researches and conservation efforts dedicated on hornbills.

The three-day event, which concluded here on Thursday, hosted 23 speakers and 73 other delegates from around the world. Renowned expert Prof Emeritus Dr Pillai Poonswad from Hornbill Research Foundation under Faculty of Science of Mahidol University Bangkok, was the key speaker.

He was aided by conference’s co-organising chairmen Prof Andrew Alek Tuen from Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas); Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) deputy general manager (protected areas and biodiversity cooperation) Oswald Braken Tisen; director and professor of zoology at University of the Philippines, Dr Juan Carlos T Gonzalez; and international coordinator of Hornbill Research Foundation at Mahido University in Thailand, Ng Bee Choo.