Saving Philippine seas through teaching

Dr. Aletta Yñiguez is passionate about finding out the triggers of harmful algal blooms. She works closely with a group of fellow scientists and students on her research on the matter.

Passion is often the driver of success. Many successful people have often said it was their passion that made them pursue their ultimate goal even if the odds were stacked against them.

It is also passion for the environment that made it easier for Aletta Yñiguez to continue teaching.

“I’m not trained as a teacher. I am a scientist by training. I’ve been listening to their stories and the places they are teaching in and I ask myself, ‘Really?’” she answered this writer’s query, the latter part with a trailing voice.

We were in a roomful of people. It was to be an afternoon of getting to know the four teachers deemed as the 2019 honorees of The Many Faces of the Teacher (TMFT) advocacy campaign by Diwa Learning Systems and Bato Balani Foundation. It is a campaign that looks for Filipino educators who find creative ways of teaching that contribute to nation-building.

She was asked how she feels being part of the honorees. It was a surprise for the lovely marine scientist, who could easily pass off as a strong contender in a beauty pageant tilt.

Yñiguez is in good company with the other teachers in the TMFT roster, which includes a seasoned educator who helps out-of-school youth through the Alternative Learning System and an innovative educator who designed an interactive module for young learners. Their stories will also be told in the coming weeks in this page.

“I’m still surprised,” she said. Even with such modesty, she finds value in such citation because it helps promote her causes.

“It helps, yeah, we get to be recognized. At least not only (those who are in the) conventional teaching path. There are ways to promote education and knowledge, especially with the sciences,” she explained.

She loves the sciences so much that even in her lean days, she jested that she’s out in the ocean for relaxation.

Her love for the environment dates back to her younger years. Her family resided near the boundary of Laguna and Manila, and she had mountains and greens as her everyday view.

“I grew up having fun outside, climbing the trees and with no telephones. It had a positive effect on me,” she shared.

Apart from being surrounded by a relatively healthy environment, the studious student in her could not help but be affected after reading about the harmful effects of pollution. She singles out Silent Spring written by Rachel Carson, an American marine biologist, author and conservationist.

Published in 1962, it brought to the public’s consciousness on the detrimental effects of the indiscriminate use of pesticides.

“Science is fascinating. For me, especially when it comes to environment because it is something that we’re all reliant on, as individuals or species. But then, it is underappreciated and abused.

So, I think it’s something that we should understand more. We cannot not talk about it and the science behind it if we want to preserve and fix whatever ails it,” she explained.

That positive effect eventually rubbed off on her as she eventually took up Biology at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Los Baños, Laguna.

She chooses to stay in the Philippines and impart her knowledge and skills to next-generation Filipino marine scientists.

That she aced that program (she was not ready to bare that she graduated magna cum laude from her course if not for the prodding), she then went to pursue more studies abroad. She got her Ph.D from the Rosenstiel School of Maritime and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami in Florida, USA.

With such an impressive educational background, Dr. Aletta chose to go back to the Philippines instead of applying her vast knowledge and joining an illustrious pool of marine scientists in the many prestigious universities in America.

“There’s still a lot of exciting things that should be explored here in the Philippines. I still have a lot to learn which hopefully be translated to knowledge on how to help the fisherfolk, how to better the policies,” she enthused.

When she’s not teaching at the UP Marine Science Institute as Assistant Professor or at high school summer camps, she’s out in the open seas researching on the marine ecosystem. She is heavily interested in harmful algal blooms, which is most often associated with red tide.

Currently, she and her team, which is composed of fellow scientists and students, are trying to figure out its triggers in the hopes of coming up of ways to predict its occurrence.

“We try to figure out why certain shellfishes have toxin. Why are phytoplanktons (microscopic marine algae which can provide food for a wide range of sea creatures) increasing? Is it because of the increasing incidence of fertilizers streaming down from upstream? Or is it climate-related?

“Right now, we are working with shellfish farmers. We want to deploy sensors that could predict red tide. In that way, they will be warned and can harvest the shellfish earlier or sooner before a fishkill (occurs),” she shared.

This is part of COASTS or the Community Alliance for the Sustainability of our Threatened Seas, a partnership between the academe, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, coastal communities and local government unit. Aside from this, she also actively maintains the Facebook page, Baybay Dagat, which calls on its members and visitors to protect and secure the ocean for the next generation.