Technology Evaluations

Project Overview

The Philippine archipelago, occupying about half of the latitudinal spread of the Coral Triangle, offers a diverse array of marine flora and fauna. However, it is also one of the most threatened and vulnerable areas to rapid habitat loss and species extinction with perturbations in the environment.

The country experienced a rapid decline in marine resources, particularly over the past few decades, due to water contamination, overfishing, climate change, and other stressors. Baseline studies and monitoring activities often cannot cope with the rapid environmental changes associated with urbanization, industrialization, and climate change. Hence, new technologies that will enable the collection of data at higher spatial and temporal resolution can bridge this gap. The Philippines, largely reliant on tourism and fishing industries, will benefit from the real-time monitoring of environmental health and basin-to-molecular and isotopic-level analyses.

The research seeks to better understand and monitor the physicochemical conditions and environmental quality across three marine sites in the Philippines using traditional methods and an Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV).