Behind The Science Podcast

I talked with Ms. Cielo Luz C. Mondejar about practical, low-cost ways to improve rice seed quality using organic fertilizers.

📚Reference: Mondejar CL. 2025. Comparative Effects of Organic-Based Seed Treatments on Seed Viability and Vigor of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties. The Philippine Agricultural Scientist. 108(4):305–312.

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

What happens when you drop 2 quantum particles of different sizes at the same time?

📚Reference: Flores PCM, Galapon EA. 2019. Quantum free-fall motion and quantum violation of the weak equivalence principle. Physical Review A. 99(4). ‌

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

Kwento ko lang paano ito nagsimula hanggang sa kung ano na ito ngayon.

In this episode, I talked with Dr. Rafaela Jane Delfino about her research on how climate change influences super typhoons in the Philippines. Using high-resolution climate models, her study examines how Super Typhoons Goni (2020) and Rai (2021) respond to past and future climate conditions.

📚Reference: Delfino RJP, Bagtasa G. 2025. Response of super typhoons Goni (2020) and Rai (2021) to past and future climate conditions in convection-permitting model experiments. Environmental Research Communications. 7(9):091013.‌

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

I talked with Dr. Cherrie May Olaya, a postdoctoral researcher at the RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics in Japan. She explains her work on how light behaves at metal surfaces, focusing on a phenomenon known as the photonic spin Hall effect. Using surface plasmon resonance, her study demonstrates a new way to directly measure tiny light shifts that are usually difficult to detect. We discuss why these effects matter, how they can improve optical sensing and imaging technologies, and what it is like to conduct advanced photonics research as a Filipino scientist working abroad.

📚Reference: Olaya CM, Hayazawa N, Balgos MH, Tanaka T. 2025. ⁠Enhancing angular photonic spin Hall effect at surface plasmon resonance⁠. Nanophotonics. 14(19):3115–3124.

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

Dr. Mary Joy Abit shares their research that examines how nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations can influence the growth of water hyacinths.

📚Reference: Abit MJ, Pilar RF, Ramirez AH. 2025. Influence of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Rates on the Growth of Water Hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes Mart.). The Philippine Agricultural Scientist. 108(1):7–12.‌

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

Dr. Gerry Bagtasa shares their study on developing an AI-based model for forecasting tropical cyclone rainfall in the Philippines using historical data from 1951 to 2015 to train the model.

📚Reference: Mesias CG, Bagtasa G. 2025. AI‐Based Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Forecasting in the Philippines Using Machine Learning. Meteorological Applications. 32(4). ‌

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

In this episode, I talk with Ms. Alexandra Hulog about a new microfluidic method that creates uniform alginate microbeads for cell encapsulation. Traditional batch emulsion techniques often produce beads of uneven sizes, which affects how much medicine, nutrients, or cells each bead can carry. Their microfluidic platform solves this problem by controlling droplet size during formation, resulting in more consistent microbeads that can be used for broader biological and biotechnological applications.

📚Reference: Hulog AM, Francisco M, Oquendo N, Mariane Desiree Avendaño, Kaw J, Dagdag AD, Guerrero RJ. 2025. Development of a microfluidic platform for the encapsulation of baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in alginate hydrogel microparticles. SciEnggJ. 18:256–269.‌

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

Dr. Edison Macusi discusses the most pressing issues facing the small pelagic fisheries and milkfish aquaculture industries in the Philippines over the next 30 years, and the solutions to these problems.

📚Reference: Macusi ED, Nallos IM, Santos MD, Geronimo RC. 2025. Climate and Non-climate Related Hazards in Small Pelagic Fisheries and Milkfish Aquaculture: Expert Opinion Survey in the Philippines. The Philippine Journal of Fisheries. 32(1).

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.

Mr. Marco Ibañez shares what it takes to become a storm chaser for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, and his experience chasing Super Typhoon Uwan.

📚 Check out Marco's research papers: [1] Ibañez MP, Pura AG, Sajulga RA, David SJ. 2023. Raindrop Size Distribution (RSD) Characteristics during the Southwest Monsoon Period in Western Luzon, Philippines. Philippine Journal of Science. 152(S1).► https://doi.org/10.56899/152.s1.01[2] Ibañez MPA, Capuli GH, Pura AG, Villafuerte MQ. 2025. Establishment of kinetic energy – Rainfall intensity (KE-I) relationships for soil erosion studies using raindrop size distribution (DSD) measurements in the mountainous region of Tanay, Rizal. Geomorphology. 488:109968.► https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2025.109968

🤝Behind The Science Podcast is presented to you by Marine & Earth Science Learning Hub, UP Resilience Institute, The Philippine Agricultural Scientist, The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, and SciEnggJ.