Pinoy Scientists

Hello, it’s Erwin (Ervin Racasa ) again, na at Maligayang Araw ng Kasarinlan para sa ating mga Pilipino! Sana ay masarap ang ulam niyo, maliban doon sa mga ka-halfies na mababa ang tingin sa atin! Joke no joke!

Noong nakatira ako sa Germany, tuwing summer ang aming madalas gawin pagkatapos ng trabaho ay mag-bbq sa Warnemuende beach o di kaya ay uminom ng malamig na beer at wine sa port sa tabing-ilog ng Warnow. Napakaganda ng sunset sa mga lugar na ito lalo na tuwing summer solstice. Pasado alas diyes na ang dapit hapon at talaga namang buhay na buhay ang kahel na kalangitan.

Tuwing taglamig naman, para kami ay mainitan, malimit kaming mag-hotpot at karaoke sa bahay. Minsan, magbabake ako ng pandesal o di kaya ay lechon. Etong mga sandali na ito ang nagpatibay sa aming mga samahan, may tawanan at iyakan habang magkakasamang naghahapunan, lalo pa’t pare-pareho kami ng mga dinaranas – malayo sa pamilya at hirap na dulot ng pag-PhD.

Noon namang lumipat ako sa Canada, kahit magkakalayo, ay pilit pa rin kaming nagkikita ng mga kaibigang pinoy. Kaya nga naman tatlong beses akong nakapunta sa Niagara Falls – winter, spring, at summer. Minsan naman ay nagmaneho ako ng 450 km para dumalo sa konsiyerto ni Avril Lavigne. At bago ko lisanin ang Canada ay nagroad trip kami mula Ontario hanggang sa dulo ng Quebec, mga 3000+ km na balikang pagmamaneho.

Kung ikaw ay nag-ma-masters o PhD, importante ang magpahinga at makahanap ng matibay na suporta. Maaring pagluluto, sports, o di kaya naman ay simpleng katahimikan at pagmuni-muni.

Kung ano man ang nagpapasaya sayo, nawa’y makahanap ka ng kapayapaan at kalayaan.
Muli, maligayang araw ng kasarinlan!

Sometimes, the most enduring scientific tools aren’t the high-tech ones, but the simplest methods that stand the test of time.

Magandang gabi! This is Erwin (Ervin Racasa ) again for . Today let me share two classic techniques that shaped my work on submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) and peat soils.
To study SGD, researchers often rely on multiple methods, but only one method directly measures SGD in the field: the seepage meter. It’s nothing more than the cut off end of a drum fitted with a collection bag. You submerge it, push it into the sand, and let the bag fill with groundwater over time. Sounds simple, right? Invented in the 1970s, and still the only direct way to quantify SGD. In 2021, we hauled several of these across a 3 km beach — exhausting, messy, but absolutely worth it. That effort eventually led to our recent publication.

For describing peat soils, the simplest tool is the von Post humification scale, developed in the 1920s. This technique simply involves squeezing the saturated peat soils with your hand and then describing the water and peat that comes out between your fingers. A century later, this remains the standard for assessing peat decomposition in the field!

I’ve included some of our field photos here — including the mud and the sweat! 😊

Do you have a similar field method that stood the test of time?

Moin! Moin!

Hello everyone – I’m Erwin ( ), your Pinoy Scientist of the Week. I’m an environmental scientist working across interdisciplinary fields (my background: BSc Chemistry, MSc Environmental Science, PhD Soil Physics, plus postdoctoral work on plants and hydrology). These days, I’m also wearing a new hat as an educator at the School of Environmental Science and Management – UP Los Baños.

For , I want to highlight my current research passions – submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) and peatlands. SGD is the flow of groundwater from land to sea, may occur almost anywhere, and is important to multiple coastal ecosystems. Meanwhile, peatlands are carbon-rich wetlands that store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined. Despite their importance, both topics are little known in the Philippines, even within the scientific community.

My journey into SGD began during my MSc thesis under Dr. Fernando Siringan, who also encouraged me to pursue a PhD. I’ve never planned on doing one, but with a strong support system (combined with my natural stubbornness 😅), I went for it. My PhD took me to Germany, where I studied SGD in coastal peatlands – and that’s how I discovered peatlands! 🎉 I continued this work during my postdoc in Canada, diving deeper into peatland hydrology and restoration.

Throughout the week, I’ll be sharing more about these transitional environments – why they matter and why we should care.

Stay tuned!