THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE
Words by Katrina Pingul
The College of Science recognises excellence and commitment through individuals whose achievements serve as an inspiration to all. And this week was no exception.
SCIde by Side: Thomasian Camaraderie
The Thomasian community banded together to raise Php 74,000 last February 24 to pay for hospital bills acquired by College of Science maintenance staff, Alvin Negrido Marbida, who was attacked by a dog this past week. The fundraising event was spearheaded by Psychology alumna, Bea Karen Aquino.
GALING SCIENCE: Faculty and Student Accolades
Dr. Sheen Mclean Cabañeros
Dr. Sheen Cabañeros was awarded the CHED-Newton grant in the University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom for the publication, “Modelling of air pollution levels in the Philippines using artificial neural networks and stochastic simulation techniques for accurate air quality forecasts” which aimed to characterize the concentration levels of key air pollutants to raise awareness.
IMPACT FACTOR: Faculty Publications
Asst. Prof. Josephine Bernadette Benjamin
Asst. Prof Josephine Benjamin, of the Department of Math and Physics, and her co-author Miin-Shen Yang published an article entitled, “Weighted Multi-View Possibilistic C-Means Clustering with L2 Regularization,” which was made available online this February 2021.
ZOOMING IN: Online Lectures and Webinars
Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., Ph.D., S. Th. D., from the Department of Biological Sciences, held a lecture last February 24, 2021 entitled “The Science and Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccines” along with the Philippines Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC), and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) to remove the stigma on COVID-19 vaccines’ side effects.
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The UST Department of Biological Sciences held the second installment to the DBS Lecture Series last February 26. The guest speakers were Dr. Paul Richard J. Yulo from the Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University and Ms. Pauline Dianne M. Santos, M.Sc., Dr.rer.nat. candidate (Biology) from the Institute for Virus Diagnostics, Friedrich-Loeffle, Greifswald, Germany who talked about the “Evolution of the Spherical Cell Shape in Bacteria” and “Next Generation Sequencing-Based Outbreak Investigation: Lessons Learned from Epizootic Emergence of West Nile Virus Epidemic in Germany.”
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In celebration of Community Service Day, the College, in partnership with the College of Science Student Council (CSSC), announced a webinar to be held on March 5, 2021 entitled, “THE OTHER WAVE: The Environment Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic” which will tackle the pandemic’s threat to the earth and how we can protect it.
The speakers will be Mr. Xian Guevarra, National Coordinator of the Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines, with the topic, “The Impact of COVID 19 Pandemic to Our Environment” and Ms. Lea Guerrero, Country Director of Greenpeace Philippines, with the topic, “Speaking of Countermeasures: What Can We Do to Protect Our Environment?”
