OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Effective Development Communications Unit
Bohol will host the 15th International Nannoplankton Association Conference on March 7-12, 2015 in Panglao.
A first in the Philippines, the international conference gathers scientists from all over the world who have interest in living or fossil calcerous nannoplankton.
The Nannoworks Laboratory of the National Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of the Philippines Diliman won the bid to host the biennial conference over other groups from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany.
This is only the second time that the conference will be held in Asia, after Japan, since it began in 1985.
Geology Professor Alyssa Peleo-Alampay and co-organizer Associate Professor Allan Gil Fernando, both proud and honored to be hosting the event said the conference is a great opportunity not just for the institute but also for the Philippine scientific community to prove that the country is at par with other developed countries in this scientific field.
University of the Philippines graduate and recently honored among 50 distinguished outstanding alumni of the UP School of Economics, Gov. Edgar Chatto is set to welcome the international experts at the opening of the international conference.
The international fossil conference is seen as a testament to the growing positive reputation of Filipino scientists and an important proof of the Philippine scientists’ abilities to engage in scientific advancements in the world.
Calcareous nannoplankton are single-celled plantlike organisms (algal protists) living in the world’s oceans since the Triassic period (more than 200 million years ago).
The shell remains (called coccoliths) of these organisms can only be studied under a light microscope with at least 1000 times magnification. The specimens can also be viewed in greater detail with a special type of microscope called the scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Academic and industry scientists will present through oral and poster presentations their respective researches about these organisms during the conference.
The past two conferences were held in Yamagata in Japan in 2010, and then in Reston in Virgina, US in 2013.
(Leah/EDCOM)
