Alyssa Agapito is a junior Biology undergraduate student majoring in Ecology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Her research interests include the conservation of species endemic to the Philippines and the mitigation threats to biodiversity brought about by climate change and human land-use change. She initially plans to continue to medical school upon completion of her bachelor’s degree but currently, she is considering pursuing a career in Conservation Biology.

Aly spends her free time reading translated East Asian literature, science fiction, fantasy novels, and contemporary fiction. She is a big fan of BTS and a casual listener of bedroom pop music, classical piano, and jazz. Due to the pandemic, all of Aly’s classes were held online and she felt that she was missing out on the adventure of being a Biology student on the field. With encouragement from her friends and support from her parents, she decided to take the opportunity to volunteer so that she can supplement what she learned in her online classes with practical knowledge she might gain during her time in the Museum.

As a volunteer, she is tasked with assisting the Senior Museum Specialist in the digitization and management of the museum’s collections. At present, they are working on managing, cleaning, and caring for the thousands of bird and mammal specimens collected by the late Dr. Rabor at the Rabor Memorial Wildlife Collection at the UPLB Museum of Natural History. Through the duration of her volunteering, she has learned to appreciate the beauty of the Philippine birds of the past and realize the importance of documenting the country’s rich wildlife biodiversity. During inventory of Dr Rabor’s heritage collection, it was discovered that a few of the specimens may be possibly extinct bird species which has renewed Aly’s drive to contribute to efforts in conserving Philippine biodiversity.