Sciences Archives | University of San Carlos

Balik Scientist talks about C. elegans

universityofsancarlos — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Mark I. R. Petalcorin, Ph.D., a DOST Balik Scientist hosted by the �� Tuklas Lunas Development Center (TLDC), gave an academic seminar on Wednesday, June 19, at 9:00 a.m. at the Science and Mathematics Education Department Audio-Visual Room (SMED-AVR) in Talamban Campus. The topic of the seminar is the use and applications of the nematode, C. elegans, as an animal proxy for human disease research and targeted drug discovery (download abstract here).

Dr. Petalcorin will be at �� from June 13 to July 12, 2019. He will meet with potential collaborators, formulate proposals for funding, and train �� TLDC staff on the culture, maintenance, and micromanipulation of C. elegans.

Petalcorin is currently an Associate Professor in Biochemistry at the PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. His expertise covers the areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, genome editing, and DNA repair. Prior to his stint in Brunei, he worked, including as the Principal Scientific Officer, for 12 years at the Clare Hall Laboratories, The Francis Crick Institute in London, U.K.

Dr. Mark I. R. Petalcorin delivers a seminar introducing C. elegans as a proxy animal for research into human diseases and drug discovery.

Philippine Science High School-Caraga Campus students, along with some Chemist Licensure Examination reviewees, participated in the training on the culture and handling of C. elegans.

Tags: Chemistry, Biology, Tuklas Lunas Development Center, Research, Sciences, Seminar

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Caltech-JCAP scientist talks about artificial photosynthesis

universityofsancarlos — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Jack Hess L. Baricuatro, Ph.D., a staff scientist at the (JCAP) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), gave a seminar today, July 16, 2019, at the Science and Mathematics Education Department Audio-Visual Room in Talamban Campus.

Dr. Baricuatro’s talk, entitled “Surface science studies of artificial photosynthesis in the dark: Heterogeneous catalysis of carbon dioxide-to-fuel conversion,” was sponsored by the Chemistry Students’ Association (ChemSA) and the �� Department of Chemistry.

Starting with an overview of the purpose of JCAP, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Dr. Baricuatro described current efforts on artificial photosynthesis, taking inspiration from natural processes to convert carbon dioxide and water with the aid of solar energy into fuels.

He narrowed his talk to efforts exploring the “dark” reaction, i.e., carbon dioxide reduction, as opposed to the light-dependent reactions in photosynthesis that produce oxygen gas. Contrasting the use of noble metal catalysts to produce hydrogen gas, Baricuatro highlighted their discovery of copper-based catalysts that could reduce carbon dioxide into ethanol, albeit at low efficiency. He also described advances that his group at JCAP developed, including operando scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in aqueous medium, observing the structural changes in the copper catalysts while undergoing surface electrochemical reactions.

Speaking in front of over 70 people, including Senior High School administrators and teachers from �� and Minglanilla Science High School, graduate students, faculty and staff, and even members of his family, Dr. Baricuatro kept the talk light, injecting at opportune times snippets that integrated science with pop culture, including a mention of the Korean group BTS (which in chemistry is an abbreviation for the compound n-benzyl-p-toluenesulfonamide).

Dr. Baricuatro’s sister, Leah, who is visiting from New York, his brother Farley and sister-in-law Dia with their children Francesca and Ryan, attended the talk. Both Farley (Class ’90) and Dia (Class ’93) are also alumni of the B.S. Chem. program at ��; Dia holds a Ph.D. specializing in marine geochemistry from the University of Tokyo, while Farley has an M.S. Chem. degree.

Jack, who finished his B.S. Chem. (Class ’93) at ��, graduated summa cum laude. He taught at the �� Department of Chemistry before he pursued his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University. He had a post-doctoral stint at the University of Washington before returning briefly to ��, where he was later persuaded to join two other Carolinian chemists at JCAP, namely Principal Investigator and Alnald C. Javier, Ph.D.

Tags: Chemistry, Sciences

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�� dominates 2019 CESAFI Science quiz bowl

universityofsancarlos — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Representatives from the School of Arts and Sciences dominated the annual CESAFI Science Quiz Bowl at the University of Cebu-Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue Campus (UCLM) last February 9, 2019. The team comprised of 4th year students Seth Blanco (Chemistry), Geo Peig (Physics), and Jodivine Navarosa (Biology), with their coach, Dr. Anthony S. Ilano.

The event kicked off at 2 p.m. and went on for approximately two hours. Team �� breezed through the easy, average and difficult rounds, owning every question thrown at them. When Blanco was asked on his feelings during and after the event, he shared how it was mix of emotions. Blanco further explained, “We felt nervous the whole time since we were up against other schools. But we trust each other and ourselves to achieve this [victory].”

The questions during the quiz bowl ranged from biology, chemistry to physics. Despite having representatives from the three departments, Team �� still had to take precautions in answering them since only two of the three participants can compete in each round. Team �� had to hold their ground against teams from Southwestern University (SWU), Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), and University of Cebu Main Campus (UC).

by Christian Tugunon, SAS Bulletin

Tags: Sciences

�� ChemSA is Most Outstanding UNESCO Club

universityofsancarlos — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The University of San Carlos Chemistry Students’ Association (ChemSA) is named the Most Outstanding UNESCO Club in the Science and Technology Category at the 2018 International Assembly of Youth for UNESCO held on September 6-8, 2018 in Quezon City.

ChemSA president Janielle Bernice Guion represented the organization and received the award during the ceremony on September 8th. ChemSA was shortlisted along with nine other clubs in the Science and Technology category (see ), and bested five other Outstanding clubs in the category.

The award was given by Dr. Serafin Alviola Jr. (Founding Chair, National Association of UNESCO Clubs in the Philippines), Dr. Yuji Suzuki (Director General, National Association of UNESCO Clubs in Japan), and Jonathan Jaime G. Guerrero (President, National Association of UNESCO Clubs in the Philippines) (see photo above).

ChemSA won the award primarily for its Chemistry Roadshow project that started in 2007. The roadshow is a brainchild of Manuelito Tiu (�� Chem ’65) and then ChemSA adviser Fernando Sialana Jr. The roadshow aims to increase the interest of high school students by demonstrating through basic experiments various chemistry concepts.

Three other clubs from �� were named Outstanding UNESCO clubs, namely �� Psychology Society (Social and Human Sciences category), �� Datalogics (Information and Communication Technology category), and �� Pathways (Education category). June Jan Genelsa (�� Pathways) was also chosen as an Outstanding Youth Leader.

with reporting from Queenie Marie A. Maquilang and Janielle Bernice Guion

Tags: Chemistry, Sciences

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Sciences Archives | University of San Carlos

Balik Scientist talks about C. elegans

Caltech-JCAP scientist talks about artificial photosynthesis

�������� dominates 2019 CESAFI Science quiz bowl

�������� ChemSA is Most Outstanding UNESCO Club

�� dominates 2019 CESAFI Science quiz bowl

�� ChemSA is Most Outstanding UNESCO Club