One of the grantees of the Outstanding Young Scientists (OYS) award for 2011 is Dr. Nathaniel C. Anasco in recognition of his important contributions in determining the presence, distribution, and effects of agricultural pesticides, ballast water treatment chemicals, spilled oil, and other marine pollutants on the coastal ecosystems which are important factors in the effective integrated management system of the Philippines coastal zones, since our country, being archipelagic in nature, and has large areas of rice paddy fields and aquaculture farms located near the sea. The said award is given to deserving young individuals not more than 40 years old (in the year of the award) who has made outstanding contributions to science and technology.
Dr. Anasco research interests include marine pollution and ecotoxiclogy, water quality, marine chemistry, and fisheries biology.
He graduated from the University of the Philippines in the Visayas Cebu College in the course B.S. Biology in 1993.in 1991, Dr. Anasco obtained his M.S. in Fisheries at the UP Visayas, Miag-ao campus. He got a scholarship grant from the Japan Ministry of Education in 2004 and eventually earned degrees in M.S. in Fisheries Science and Technology and the Doctor of Philosophy in Fisheries Sciences at Kagoshima University in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
His studies aimed at studying the impacts of environmental pollutants to marine habitats and fishery resources in Philippine coastal waters. His technical expertise in the assessment and monitoring of water quality, extent of marine pollution, and marine productivity in the country’s important fishing grounds are significant contributions to both fisheries and environmental sciences. He performs laboratory exposure experiments involving marine bivalves. He conducts the uptake and elimination of agricultural pesticides which will be examined using water and food-borne sources to determine bioaccumulation potential of pollutants and to know their sub-lethal toxicities.
He has published important papers on the biology of non-target fishery catch such as puffer fishes that can be utilized in the future as food, fish meal, and sources of industrial chemicals.
Dr. Anasco works on the toxicology of biotoxins and natural products from marine organisms in the coastal waters of Western Visayas as possible sources of selective and non-persistent pesticides. He just recently initiated the establishment of the Marine Pollution and Ecotoxicology (MPE) Laboratory at UP Visayas.
Dr. Anasco is newly-conferred UP Diamond Jubilee Professorial Chair in Fisheries Science from the University of the Philippines. He won Best Paper Presenter award from UP Visayas (2003) and the Director’s Award from the Bureau of Agricultural Research, Department of Agriculture (2002).
He is currently an Assistant Professor and Director of the Institute of Marine Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas. He continues to participate in international and local scientific meetings to present his activities and results. Luningning Samarita, Executive Director, NAST
