Location (during time of takeover)
School/Institution
Featured on June 11, 2023
Joining us this week (and this Independence Day) is Balik Scientist Dr. Deborah Tangunan (Debs)—a micropaleontologist, biogeochemist, and palaeoclimate scientist, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences in Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
Debs obtained her BS degree in Agriculture major in Soil Science and MS degree in Geology at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños and Diliman, respectively, before moving to Germany to undertake a PhD in Geosciences at the University of Bremen, while working as a research scientist at the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences.
Debs then took on a role as a Postdoctoral Investigator at the University of Salamanca in Spain. Two years ago, she moved to the UK as a Global Talent endorsed by the Royal Society to work on her project, Plight of Pelagic Primary Producers in a Changing Marine Environment.
Debs is an active science communicator since 2016, participating in the Once Upon a Time series of science short stories written to engage the public about climate change and the importance of the marine environment, and has taken part in and won a number of science engagement and impact activities and grants.
In 2019, Debs had a short stint as a Balik Scientist, with the UP Diliman Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology as the host institution.
Currently, she is working on the biogeochemistry of marine calcifying organisms, and what they can tell us about ocean productivity, carbonate chemistry, and ecosystem function to better understand the present and future climate scenarios.
Fun facts about Debs:
- She is a flow artist – a poi spinner, fire dancer, and juggler.
- She loves music (especially classical, old country, world, and 80s/90s pop) and going to concerts.
- She lived in 3 European countries over the past 8 years, sailed 4 out of 5 major oceans, and been to 5 out of 7 continents, with the Arctic Ocean, Australia/New Zealand, Antarctica still on her bucket list.
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This Balik Scientists takeover is made possible in collaboration with DOST PCIEERD. Stay tuned for more features throughout the month!
