John Phillip Baguio and Meyrick Tablizo, graduate students of the Nannoworks Laboratory, presented their research as posters at the 5th Graduate Student Research Conference of the College of Science, University of the Philippines Diliman, held at the CS Administration Building on November 25, 2024.
Phillip shared preliminary findings from his ongoing thesis project through a poster titled “Preliminary Results of the Analysis of Foraminiferal Assemblages from Pliocene Sedimentary Units in Anda, Pangasinan,” co-authored with Nannoworks faculty Dr. Allan Gil Fernando and Dr. Leopoldo De Silva. His study used foraminiferal assemblages to infer depositional environments ranging from the middle shelf to the upper bathyal zone. Combined with results from an ongoing study west of Anda, these findings suggest that the area was once part of an extensive shelf deposit during the Early Pliocene.
Meyrick, on the other hand, showcased a chapter from his recently concluded thesis project with a poster entitled “Island-Hopping Across the Wallace Line: Insights from a New Stegodon Skull from Lannig, Solana, Cagayan,” co-authored with Dr. Gerrit van den Bergh and Dr. Allan Gil Fernando. He described newly discovered craniodental Stegodon fossils from Lannig—the first formally described cranial material of the genus from the Philippines. These fossils point to a possible north–south dispersal linkage between the Philippines and Wallacean islands such as Sangihe, Sulawesi, and Flores, based on both quantitative and qualitative morphological analyses. For this work, Meyrick was awarded Best Poster Presentation in the Health, Biodiversity, and Environment category.
