10 Things I Love About Being a Marine Biologist

As promised, here is my response to the post of Alvin on 101 Things I Wished I Knew Before MedSchool...and this one is dedicated to all my students who are not entirely sure med school is for them...



1.While your batchmates are in medschool, getting 4 hours of sleep daily from too much studying your Wednesday sched at  at grad school in Dumaguete  is  11 am-wake up and have lunch; 2 -7 pm - class, library session, class again;  8 pm- dinner;  10 pm-3 am --Hayahay for reggae wednesday!  5am: wait for the sunrise at the boulevard, and then crawl back to your place, you have class at 4 pm on Thursdays.....

2. On your 2nd batch Christmas party/reunion, you will be the only one with substantial amount of melanin from days out in the sun and the beach, while your classmates can give Kristin Stewart a run for her money on who is paler from lack of sun exposure.

3. While your batchmates are learning to dissect human cadavers, you will probably dissect sharks, fishes, and maybe dolphins. Shark in formalin is very bad and the smell will stay with you--but at least you get to do the dissection in a laboratory with a great view of the sea. And then you can always take a dip in the sea when you are done. :)

4. You will get paid to dive (to survey fish, corals, etc.) AND travel. Doing this while you are young and energetic and penniless, such as in grad school, is perfect, because it will get harder and harder as time goes by.

5.You will be assigned to do work in far off islands and exotic places that you never even knew existed on the map. By the time you are done with grad school you will be a seasoned traveler already and will have many nanays and tatays in several islands and cities all over the Philippines. If you are really lucky, you might be sent off to attend international conferences, all expenses paid.

6.  You will be your own boss when you are doing your thesis. Of course, you have deadlines, but you do your thesis on your own terms, in your own pace. The writing part will take the better part of a year, but if it gets too much, then you can always go on that small mini vacation anywhere you want to. And once field work is over, you can write your thesis anywhere--even in your pajamas! :)

7.Your office during summer time will be a small hut cooled by the ocean breeze, and the view out of the window is a white sand beach,with a boat moored in front, waiting for you to don on your diving gear and dive.

8. You wiill become good friends with Statistics and Research.  Your doctor friends will ask you to help them with their medical research later on. Then you can charge them for being their "Research Consultant" :)

9. Having an MS degree gives you the freedom to pursue many different careers-you can teach, you can work for the government, work for an NGO, or become a consultant.  Some moonlight as dive instructors, underwater photographers, or work with aquariums. Because there is not so many of you, the jobs come looking for you, and not the other way around.

10.You may decide to proceed to your PhD later, so you can still be called Doctor, if the title really means that much to you. Just be sure to tell people ahead of time you are a fish doctor, so they don't ask you to prescribed medicine to them.

Jerome back from a hard day's work in Danjugan... its five thirsty! :)

Latex, Sex Education, and the Future Nobel Prize Winner

Recently, I bumped into an old classmate from college who shared somewhat shocking news. According to him, Bacolod City is the 2^nd most promiscuous city in the Philippines, next only to Manila.  I was like, no, that can’t be true! But as this old classmate of mine is in the business of selling condoms and pills, and his company sells about 164,000 pieces of rubber in the city every month on average, then there must be some truth in his seemingly controversial statement.  164,000 pieces of condoms sold in the entire city for a month translates to roughly 5,467 condoms a day! I cannot even begin to imagine how large an area this number can occupy, but for sure, that is a lot of rubber finding their way to the city’s garbage dumps indeed!

If condoms and pills can stop our population from ballooning out of control, I am all for it. But I am a bit worried though about the impact of used condoms to the environment. 5,467 condoms a day in Bacolod alone, what about other cities? Manila? Cebu? Davao?  How about the rest of the world?  Those will have to go somewhere! And since latex is non-biodegradable, they will stay for a really long time in the environment.  

I really hope somebody comes up with biodegradable latex that will do the job properly (strong and will not tear) but at the same time, degrade as soon as it comes in contact with the soil. Whoever can invent this will become a very rich man---a biodegradable condom is even worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, don’t you think?  Its hitting two birds with one stone—keeping the human population down without damaging the earth.  Heck, if there is such a publicly traded company who produces biodegradable condoms now, I would be among the first to buy stocks! 

But until that time comes, then we will have to stick to what we have. Heck, we have to promote it to more people actually. Allow me to do some pencil pushing here.  Based on  2007 stats from the Philippines National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB), there  are 499,497 people in Bacolod.   If the average annual population growth is 2%, that figure should be roughly 540,671  in 2011. The average number of condoms used daily in Bacolod  in 2011 is about 10% of the population figure.  Assuming that the condoms bought were used immediately, and that majority of young people prefer to use it over pills, then this figure is really low.  If the number of registered voters (18 years and older) for 2010 is  259,786 (NSCB data), and even if 1/3 of these are single, (and therefore sexually active outside of marriage) then there is still a huge gap in the number of people who should be using condoms.   No wonder there is a lot of teenage pregnancy going on in these parts!

My old college friend also mentioned that most of their programs are targeted towards increased use of condoms among young people, which I think is a worthy thing.  However, I was surprised when he mentioned that they have to go all the way to the top management of multinational BPO companies just so that the sex education program can lift off from the ground, because apparently, the local managers are saying that they are conservative organizations. Oh common!!!! Denial will only worsen the problem, not solve it.  The same comment goes out to our DepEd.  Denying sex education to our young people will not lessen the incidence of teenage pregnancies or pre-marital sex among young people—it will only make them ignorant of the basics and thus make them more vulnerable to the dangers of unprotected sex.

 

I remember back in high school, we were made to watch a film of a woman giving birth. Literally. Seeing the baby emerge from an  small hole that became impossibly wider and wider.  All of the girls in my class were screaming as silently as we could manage—OMG! OMG! I will never have kids! EWWWWW!!! All of the boys were squirming in their seats as well and  I am quite sure they were shocked too. Giving birth to a baby is not at all romantic—and it is what will happen when you have sex. Our teacher explained everything in a logical, matter of fact way. If you don’t want to get pregnant and go through this, do not have sex. And this is probably why none of my high school classmates ever got pregnant—during high school at least.   Fast forward to 2011, and pregnant high school girls are an everyday thing.  Our teachers then must have been doing something right back then.

So, to my high school teacher who showed us that gross, eye opening video, thank you. Thank you for instilling in our young minds that the ultimate goal of sex is to have a baby.  Thank you for not lecturing to us instead that we should not engage in sex because it is a sin in the eyes of God, even though we are a sectarian school, and we knew that already anyhow. Thank you for logically explaining to us the wonderful ways of how human beings came to be. I would not have been a biologist if not for that. May future educators be as enlightened and as effective as you were. And I hope that in the near future, some bright kid will come up with the formula for biodegradable latex and get that Nobel Prize. Really, it will be one of the best things that humans can ever invent. J

My letter to Jose Rizal

A few months ago, I remember a local cable channel having this letter writing contest for Rizal, with a tag line that went something like, if Rizal was alive today, what would you like to write to him about?   On the commemoration of our national hero’s 115^th  death anniversary, this is my letter to him (and please allow me the liberty of writing in English for the sake of a broader audience). 

Dear Rizal,

First of all, I would like to let you know that you have always been my role model.  You are probably the most talented Gemini I know about, a genius in so many levels. Anybody who can be an ophthalmologist/surgeon, linguist, engineer, poet, novelist, sculptor, taxonomist, farmer, painter, activist, and teacher at various times in his life is indeed worthy of emulation. I often wonder how you did it all, considering that you did not seem to let your lovelife take a back seat. You are indeed a Renaissance man, and would have been the poster child for multiple intelligence back in those days before the term was even coined. Most importantly, you came back to the Philippines when you could have opted to stay in Europe and enjoyed the European lifestyle. And you came back even if you knew you would probably die for doing so—and that to me, just showed how much you really loved your country.  

We need more people of your calibre today, more heroes, although of the everyday kind. I am sorry to tell you that the flame of patriotism that once burned brightly in your heart and in your fellow Katipuneros is mostly extinguished in today’s youth—with a few exceptions here and there.  A lot of people of my generation are leaving our beloved motherland for greener shores abroad, never to return. They who could have stayed and contributed a lot to nation-building felt that they had no other choice but to leave in order to provide better economic opportunities for their families.   As a result, many children are growing up without mothers or fathers. This is just one of the steep prices we had to pay as a society.   The former president of this country (she was a very corrupt person, sadly) called our overseas Filipino workers as modern day heroes, and although that is true in some sense, I feel that the real heroes are the ones that stayed, the ones who sacrificed earning big bucks abroad so that they could really help in nation building, and raise their children themselves, and not just send money back home. 

Recently, a strong typhoon caused a lot of deaths in Negros Oriental and northern Mindanao, and several weeks after the tragedy, you could see that the volunteer spirit is very much alive in quite a few of our countrymen.  Common folks have come together to help out those who are most in need, and you would have been very proud of them. They are the ones who really go there and help where help is most needed—building toilets for the relocation areas, tending to the wounded and the sick, help put up shelters, and assist in the long term rehabilitation program. More than the token donation, they are putting in the real work that needed to be done.  

I do know a lot of people I look up to as everyday heroes, and most of them are working towards saving the environment in their own way.  Some work tirelessly as Bantay Dagat in protecting the marine environment, despite the bad pay and the death threats from the big illegal fishers. Some educate out of school youth tirelessly, giving them another chance for a better life.  Some stayed in the country to work here as professional educators or lawyers or community organizers when they could have gone abroad and earned more and have a better life for themselves and their families. And there are some who did go abroad, but came back to the country, and are now in the thick of doing work towards sustainable development. They are my heroes. 

I just wish that there would be more young people who could be “infected” with your patriotism.  More young people who volunteer their time and talents to a worthy cause such as planting trees, organizing youth camps, helping build homes for the homeless, etc. More young people who decide that they would rather not earn big money, but earn significant life experiences instead while they are young. More young people who do not waste their youth getting stuck in a job they hate but which pay for their extravagant, self-centered lifestyles. More young people who would rather stay and do their part in building a better Philippines for the generations to come. 

As for myself, I can honestly tell you that I felt I have stayed and done my part in nation-building, although I know I can do much more.  I still owe the Earth about a hundred trees to be planted to offset for my very high recent carbon footprint. The trees that we planted for my little daughter’s baptism last year are growing well, and she is currently under potty training and should have a lesser carbon footprint in a few months or so. I have also helped survey several potenrial new marine protected areas this year, and hopefully, these areas will be declared legally as MPAs by 2012.

If you ask me now what is my greatest contribution to nation-building though, I would have to say that its raising my children to love their country. Although their last names are Norwegian because their father is one, and they have to learn to speak English for communication out of necessity, they are, and will always be Filipinos.  My son grew up with bedtime stories of Carancal and Pilandok, and Hipon and Biya. He loves batwan sinigang and adobo, and he knows that trees should not be cut and water should not be wasted.  And although we have to leave the Philippines for the northern climes very soon, like you, I will not stay long in Europe. I know where my place in the world is, and it is here in this beautiful tropical archipelago, the Pearl of the Orient. 

Thank you, dear Rizal, for being such an inspiration to me.  Although fate did not allow you to become a father, you have been a role model for me and many Filipinos, and I know you will continue to be such for many generations to come.   

Sincerely yours,

P

A painting of Rizal's execution at Bagumbayan (Luneta). This one is at the Fort Santiago shrine to Rizal.

Triumph of Science Over Death. I am not sure if this is a replica... the details were pretty good.

One of the original prints of the Noli Me Tangere?

Capturing these buggers is hard! This is one of the few species he "discovered" for science. Cool :)

Rizal was a small guy, and this was one of the overcoats he used in cold Europe...

A replica of the original Mi Ultimo Adios that was placed inside a lamp and given to a friend (?) before he was executed...

The dungeons at Fort Santiago where Rizal spent time before he was executed. It is a horrible, damp, stuffy place where a lof of other people also died. May their souls rest in peace.

Idol! :)

The Resilient Pinoy

The Resilient Pinoy

December 18, 2011

The trip to Dumaguete for some much needed R&R was something I have looked forward to for many months. Finally, two days ago, I was on my way, with Mia and her nanny, and a huge suitcase in tow.  A storm was also headed for Dumaguete. And what a storm it was indeed.

Yesterday, December 17, started out rainy, but the rain seemed to go on forever, and it was a very heavy downpour.  Around 9 am, we decided to brave the weather for a much needed trip to the market for food supplies.  Along the way, we saw panic in our neighbourhood. Little kids sobbing on the side of the road, drenched to the bone.  The river that runs around our neighbourhood (Banica river) has flooded again.

 On the way to the market, we saw a lot of people on the road, shouting, crying, panicking. A young couple with their kid asked if they can ride with us. She was in her houseclothes, and it was obvious they had to leave in a hurry. The water rose quickly and they were not able to save everything.    Everywhere in the market, everybody was talking about “bakwit”—the colloquial term for evacuate.

The remains of one of our neighbor's house

Halfway through our market round, my nanny texted—the water has reached the house.  No matter how bad it got in the river area before, the water never reached our house. But this time it did.  

So we hurried home.  The water didn’t reach ankle height, but it was really muddy. Mama’s bedroom was covered in a silty soup. Our room, which was elevated by at least 20 cm from the rest of the house, was spared.  One hour later, with us bailing the water out with whatever means possible, the water was finally out and we sustained major water damage on the floor of Mama’s bedroom, but the rest of the house was intact. There were big cracks on the walls though, and the silt covered floor will take at least a full day to clean.  

There was no water and no electricity also. The house will have to stay dirty until the water in the taps return—or it rains a bit more so that we can store more water in the rain pails.  Then I went out to survey the damage around our neighbourhood, with my camera in tow.

Onlookers and scavengers alike at Rizal boulevard after the storm

At least 6 houses totally gone or destroyed beyond repair, with only the walls left.  Dead chickens and dead piglets everywhere. All the geese and ducks survived. Some families lost everything, as they had time only to save themselves and the clothes on their back.  Later, in the boulevard, the full extent of the damage was clear.  A ship tipped over.  Memories and the things that symbolize a life together washed away in the flood. Driftwood—the remains of washed out houses—littered the entire stretch of the boulevard.  And it seems there was a fiesta in the boulevard, with salvagers and onlookers alike having fun.

Filipinos are indeed a resilient lot.  We can still manage to smile in the face of adversity. Living in this archipelago of storms, typhoons, earthquakes and natural calamities has somehow selected for character traits that will ensure joy and a positive in the in the midst of constant upheavals.  As a biologist, I believe in natural selection, and I believe that this applies to the spirit and character of a people as well.

We are experiencing climate change and its worst effects, no doubt about that.  Our government needs to have a better disaster risk reduction and management program to mitigate adverse effects of the changing climate, no doubt about that.  But we, as a people, will continue to be resilient and adaptable despite all of the calamities that are happening to us, no doubt about that. That is the mark of a true survivor.











Below are some more images i took at the aftermath of the storm

Mama's bedroom got flooded...

...but it was nothing compared to the 6 foot deluge that out neighbors had to deal with.

Lost houses at the back of Ginny's store in our neighborhood

What remained of someone's kitchen

If the flash flood happened at night, as in CDO, many more lives could have been lost

Our living room, after the flood

Among the debris in the boulevards, the remains of a suitcase...

Many snakes were washed down, and were probably killed by people who feared these harmless species.

Memories of a life together, washed away, and hopefully found again...

This guy found a beautiful wedding gown among the debris

Despite all the destruction, we as a people will always find a reason to smile.... mabuhay ang Pinoy! :)