Researchers from the UPLB Museum of Natural History discussed their objectives and plans during the launching on 14 June 2021 of the Center for Cave Ecosystems Research (CAVES) Program which is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) NICER Program.

Led by Dr. Juan Carlos T. Gonzalez, museum curator for birds and CAVES program leader, the project proponents gave overviews on the general focus of their respective researches.

Dr. Ireneo L. Lit, Jr., curator for scale insects and other terrestrial arthropods and CAVES Project 3 leader, gave an introduction to cave ecology and biodiversity research. He discussed on caves in the biological sense and the effect of light availability and temperature on the presence and lives of organisms inside caves.

“Because of unique conditions inside caves, the become refuge for several unique species and because the Philippines has an estimated 1,500-2,000 caves, they are considered as unique, natural and non-renewable resources with very important scientific, economic, educational, cultural, historical and aesthetic values,” he said.

In simple ceremonies held via videoconferencing, the UPLB Museum of Natural History, with the support of its partners and stakeholders, launched today the Center for Cave Ecosystems Research (CAVES), a three-year, P 40M research program funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) NICER Program.

The NICER (Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D) Program is a component of the Science for Change Program (S4CP) of the DOST which aims to accelerate the capacity building of R&D institutions and industrial competitiveness in the regions.

The opening program was attended by key officials from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR)-CALABARZON and more than 150 participants from the academe and government sectors.

A new book on Philippine spiders, focusing on the orb-weavers of the Family Araneidae, has been written and recently published by Dr. Aimee Lynn B. Dupo, MNH curator for spiders and moths and her co-authors Dr. Alberto T. Barrion and Mr. Joseph R. Rasalan.

Dr. Barrion is currently a faculty at De Salle University in Taft, Manila who has been connected to the Museum as an adjunct curator. Meanwhile, Mr. Rasalan is a regular museum volunteer and currently a project staff in the museum's ongoing digitization project.

The almost 100-page book is a long-awaited, physical manifestation of the more than five years of collecting and curating spider images and natural history data by the authors alongside passionate citizen scientists on social media. It presents 56 species of Philippine orb weavers and the authors hope to build upon the current work in the coming years.

Norman Greenhawk, a 2021-2024 Fulbright Specialist and partner of the UPLB Museum of Natural History (MNH) on a pilot amphibian breeding initiative at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), recently received a grant from the National Geographic Society.

Greenhawk’s grant from the NGS will enable him to do more research in order to conserve the Philippine endemic frog Platymantis insulatus of the Gigantes Islands as a 2021 National Geographic Explorer. By partnering with UPLB MNH curators Dr. Leticia Afuang, Dr. Juan Carlos Gonzalez, and Dr. Marian De Leon, Greenhawk hopes to establish Project Palaka Phase II, an ex-situ breeding population of Platymantis insulatus, the only IUCN Critically-Endangered amphibian species in the Philippines.

The University of the Philippines System, the University of the Philippines Los Baños and the UP Los Baños Museum of Natural History joins the nation in commemorating the 500 years of the first circumnavigation of the world and the victory of Lalu-Lapu and his troops in the Battle of Mactan. UP is holding a year-long commemoration with the theme “Gahum sa Buut: Tindig at Pamana ng Bayan” as the University’s contribution to the nation’s quincentennial celebration.

The UPLB Museum of Natural History gladly informs the public today, coinciding with the start of the Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines, its lineup of special webinars which will be part of the local commemorations in UP Los Banos commencing on May 17, 2021. 

"We are inviting everyone to participate in this special webinar series which revolves around our own concept of "Limang Siglo ng Pilipinas" and theme of "Balik tanaw: Kasaysayan at Kalikasan," announced Dr. Marian P. De Leon, museum director.