Allyssa Yddet Catuira is an incoming fourth-year biology student majoring in plant biology at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Sta. Mesa, Manila. She conducted her internship at the University of the Philippines Los Baños-Museum of Natural History from August 8 to September 19, 2022, which amounts to 250 hours as a requirement for their Laboratory Apprenticeship (BIOL40023) subject.

Her internship was divided between UPLB MNH’s Botanical Herbarium (CAHUP) and Forestry Herbarium and Wood Collection (LBC) departments. She was fascinated by the fern and fern allies’ specimens she encountered from CAHUP that dates back to the 1900s up to the 1990s. She was ecstatic to see plants collected by esteemed botanists that she could only read from books and articles before. During her time at LBC, she was able to express her artistic side by creating a field guide along with her co-interns about the flora of Kalbario-Patapat Natural Park in Ilocos Norte. She encountered different plants that were either endemic, native, or introduced as well as a newly discovered species, Hornstedtia olivacea.

She can say that the time she spent at the UPLB-MNH is meaningful and productive. She is deeply grateful for the guidance, expertise, and wisdom imparted by her training supervisors, Ma’am Michelle and Sir Ariel, as well as other guest speakers who provided valuable insights. The knowledge and experience she amassed at the institution will definitely help her in her future endeavors as an aspiring botanist/biologist.