Marine Science Institute Library

📢𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲

The MSI Library will be CLOSED tomorrow:

🗓️ June 12, 2026 (Friday) - Independence Day

All services will resume on June 15, 2026 (Monday).

Regular library hours:
* Monday to Friday | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Congratulations!

The UP Marine Science Institute proudly congratulates our very own Dr. Wilfred John Santiañez for being awarded this year’s NAST Outstanding Young Scientist!

Dr. Santiañez is recognized for his work in natural history sciences. As the most prolific Filipino seaweed taxonomist of his generation, he has performed extensive and innovative work in molecular-based biodiversity and systematics research on seaweeds, and has, to date, described/named a new seaweed tribe, eight new seaweed genera, four new seaweed species, and reclassified 31 seaweed taxa from the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

His research bridges seaweed biodiversity and systematics with conservation, policy, sustainable development, and the emerging blue economy. His foundational work in basic marine phycology explores new potential economic uses for underutilized species in the Philippine seaweed industry, such as 𝘜𝘭𝘷𝘢, 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘪, 𝘈𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴, and 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢 — a genus that Dr. Santiañez named himself, locally known as gamét. Dr. Santiañez also leads and is involved in projects that document seaweeds in unexplored, vulnerable areas such as the Kalayaan Island Group and the Philippine Rise. He published the first record of 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘴𝘪𝘢 in the West Philippine Sea, a red seaweed that is known to produce a potent anti-viral protein against HIV, COVID-19, hepatitis C, Japanese encephalitis, herpes, and HPV.

Many of these discoveries are preserved in the UP Marine Science Institute's Marine Macroalgal Reference Culture Collection (UPMMARCC), a biobank of over 500 seaweed genetic resources established and managed by Dr. Santiañez that houses specimens representing either new records to the Philippines or putative new genera and/or species. Dr. Santiañez is also committed to preserving the legacy of the phycologists that came before him, which is the first time that seaweed genera are named after Filipino scientists. Several of the taxa that he discovered are named after eminent scientists in Philippine phycology: 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘻𝘢𝘦𝘢, a brown seaweed genus named after the late Dr. Artemio V. Manza; 𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘦, a brown seaweed species named after Dr. Edna T. Ganzon-Fortes; and 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, a brown seaweed genus named after Dr. Santiañez's mentor, National Scientist Gavino Trono, Jr. As the host of the most diverse and widely sampled collection of living seaweeds being maintained in vitro in the country, UPMMARCC complements the collection of Gregorio T. Velasquez Phycological Herbarium, which is also currently curated by Dr. Santiañez.

Dr. Santiañez joins his fellow faculty members at UP MSI that were previously recognized as Outstanding Young Scientist Awardees: National Scientist Lourdes Cruz, Acd. Porfirio Aliño, Acd. Gil Jacinto, Acd. Marie Antonette Juinio-Meñez, Acd. Cesar Villanoy, the late Dr. Miguel Fortes, Dr. Helen Yap, Director Dr. Arturo Lluisma, Dr. Laura David, the late Dr. Ronald Villanueva, Dr. Rene Abesamis, Dr. Rachel June Ravago-Gotanco, Dr. Aletta Yñiguez, and Dr. Lilibeth Salvador-Reyes. Padayon, Mandaragat!

📣 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲

Please be reminded that starting June 8, 2026, the MSI Library will reopen on Mondays, in accordance with UP Diliman College of Science Memorandum No. CS-CPS-2026-11 and UP OVPAA–OVPA Joint Memorandum No. 2026-02.

Library hours:
Monday to Friday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM