ACIAR-funded research AGB/2018/196

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Report

An agribusiness-led multi-agency research team arrived in Davao in January to study how to enhance aspects of value chains for smallholder Filipino farmers. Chancellor Lyre Murao met the team at a welcome dinner in Davao City and a courtesy call on the UP Mindanao campus.

The project is named “Inclusive value chain development for smallholder farming systems in the Philippines (IVC Philippines) AGB/2018/196.” The research project aims to enhance the design, implementation, and adoption of inclusive value chains in smallholder farming systems in the Philippines. The team will do this by exploring roles, conditions, and specific value chain interventions that improve engagement and benefit the livelihoods of farmers, their communities, and their chain partners.

Welcome Dinner (Jan 23) of the project Team with School of Management Dean Prof. Aurelia Luzviminda Gomez (Seated, Left) and UP Mindanao Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao (Seated, Middle). Leading the Visayas State University team is Prof. Antonio Abao (Seated, right). Leading the UP Mindanao Team is Ms. Marilo Montiflor (Standing, 5th from the right). Also joining the team from the private sector is Ms. Suzie Vanidad (Standing, 4th from the right) from Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA).

Photo 2 (courtesy of PRO) Courtesy call to UP Mindanao Chancellor, Jan 27, 2023 Seated- Left to Right Ms. Marilou Montiflor (Coffee/Coconut Case Study Lead, UP Mindanao); Dr. Wendy Merrit (Collaborator, Australian National University); Dr. Michaela Cosijn (Project Leader, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) - Prof. Lyre Anni Murao (Chancellor, UP Mindanao). Standing Left to right - Prof. Gideon Neil Tan (Collaborator, Visayas State University), Prof. Caroline Piñon (Collaborator, UP Los Baños); Mr. Anton Palo (Project Coordinator, Foodlink Advocacy Cooperative); Prof. Hadasha Bongat (Collaborator, Visayas State University); Ms. Ella Angeline Vaquilar (Research Associate, UPMin)

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is funding the research project which is a collaborative effort among the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UP Min), Foodlink Advocacy Co-operative (FAC), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the University of Queensland (UQ), UP Los Baños (UPLB), and Visayas State University (VSU).

The team held the welcome dinner on January 23, conducted a project workshop on January 24-26, 2023 in downtown Davao City and visited UP Mindanao on January 27, 2023.

Publication: Combining Image Enhancement Techniques

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Report

Combining Image Enhancement Techniques and Deep Learning for Shallow Water Benthic Marine Litter Detection

Original web page: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-23618-1_9?fbclid=IwAR0omK46WEMUClYz5XKtqia0XxRROhEJ5ob0dw8CI9_CjAKr-CYH64_T-gk

Authors: Gil Emmanuel Bancud, Alex John Labanon, Neil Angelo Abreo & Vladimer Kobayashi
Conference paper
First Online: 31 January 2023
Part of the Communications in Computer and Information Science book series (CCIS,volume 1752)

Abstract

The scarcity of information about benthic marine litter especially in developing countries hampers the implementation of targeted actions to minimize the extent of its impacts. This study developed a system using image processing and deep learning methods for detecting/tracking marine macro litter that can efficiently identify and quantify its amount in benthic environments in shallow coastal areas. Shallow underwater litter detection poses several challenges. First is the low quality of images. Second is the difficulty in recognizing litter brought by their varying visual characteristics. Third is the lack of available data for training. Underwater images of litter were collected from marine litter hotspots in coastal areas in southern Philippines. This study experimented with various object detection algorithms. The best object detection model is then paired with various image enhancement techniques to determine the optimal combination. Among the combinations that were tested, YOLOv5n combined with CLAHE gave the best performance for simple binary task (litter or not litter) with a mAP@0.5 of 0.704. Furthermore, the results showed that applying underwater image enhancement techniques provides noticeable improvement for object detection models on detecting marine litter.

Keywords: Yolov5, Image enhancement, Marine litter, Object detection

Ecological and Socio-Economic Benefits of Spiders

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Report

Our Friendly Neighborhood Spiders
by Deborah Uson
Imagine this: a spider in a matchbox, a piece of stick from a dried coconut leaf, and a group of youngsters. What do you get? A starter pack for spider fighting—a favorite pastime among the youth in some rural and peri-urban areas in the country.
Our penchant for spider fighting and the depiction of spiders in the Philippine media is a testament that spiders have long been part of Filipino culture. This could be attributed to spiders being easily found in the neighborhood, including in small-scale urban green spaces.
The paper “Local Community Perceptions of the Ecological and Socio-Economic Benefits of Spiders in Small-Scale Urban Green Spaces for Conservation Reinforcement” by UPMin researchers Brian Sabanal, Marion John Michael Achondo, Lief Erikson Gamalo, Pedro Alviola IV, and Mae Responte assessed UPMin’s local community’s knowledge, perception, and awareness on spiders' ecological and socio-economic benefits to reinforce the conservation of this invertebrate group. The paper is a result of UPMin’s Green Campus Initiative. Spiders have a significant role as beneficial predators, keeping the pest population—such as mosquitoes that spread dengue—in check. Their venom is also being studied to develop treatments for some diseases.

A variety of spiders displayed in the research paper  
The research team on fieldwork

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Research: ‘Eye in the sky’

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Report

See complete report here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X22011717?fbclid=IwAR1bSHRotWOz-XXWUEQx6tTJr6lTdqcYVT8d6Ei66R345TaCs_FkSSzikz4

Marine Pollution Bulletin

Volume 186, January 2023, 114489

‘Eye in the sky’: Off-the-shelf unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) highlights exposure of marine turtles to floating litter (FML) in nearshore waters of Mayo Bay, Philippines

Neil Angelo S. Abreo, Remie M. AurelioJr, Vladimer B. Kobayashi, Kirsten F. Thompson

Received 20 October 2022, Revised 8 December 2022, Accepted 10 December 2022, Available online 20 December 2022, Version of Record 20 December 2022.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114489 Get rights and content

Highlights

• Scarce data on marine litter and wildlife interaction needs to be addressed.

• Commercially-available UAVs are useful for litter and wildlife interaction research.

• Turtles are highly exposed to floating marine litter in nearshore waters.

• Improvements on the current methodology are needed.

Abstract

Litter is a serious threat to the marine environment, with detrimental effects on wildlife and marine biodiversity. Limited data as a result of funding and logistical challenges in developing countries hamper our understanding of the problem. Here, we employed commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a cost-effective tool to study the exposure of marine turtles to floating marine litter (FML) in waters of Mayo Bay, Philippines. A quadcopter UAV was flown autonomously with on-board camera capturing videos during the flight. Still frames were extracted when either turtle or litter were detected in post-flight processing. The extracted frames were georeferenced and mapped using QGIS software. Results showed that turtles are highly exposed to FML in nearshore waters. Moreover, spatial dependence between FML and turtles was also observed. The study highlights the effectiveness of UAVs in marine litter research and underscores the threat of FML to turtles in nearshore waters.

Prof. de Cadiz in US Dept. of State security workshop

Written by Rene Estremera. Posted in Report

PNNL–UP CBRNE CoE Focus Group International Workshop

Published November 21, 2022

By OIL Admin

By: Imee Su Martinez, Ph.D.

Reposted from: https://oil.up.edu.ph/pnnl-up-cbrne-coe-focus-group-international-workshop/?fbclid=IwAR2rJ38nHgu1-szv2_U4JbXNTX1H9QisKNilRCvv3DMbno6vd8v5lbcaghw

UP Mindanao's Prof. Aleyla E. de Cadiz (Dept. of Biological Science and Environmental Studies) participated in a security workshop organized by the US Department of State. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), in partnership with UP System CBRNE Center for Excellence Focus Group and support from the US Department of State Chemical Security Program, conducted a workshop, “Strengthening Chemical Threat Agent Analysis and Source Attribution Capabilities in the Philippines”, from 8-11 November 2022 at the Sheraton Manila. Participants included UP System faculty members and local partners such as the Philippines Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the Philippine National Police (PNP). The PNNL experts who visited Manila included Dr. Jonathan Forman–PNNL Science and Technology Advisor and former Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Science Policy Adviser and Secretary to the OPCW Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), who was accompanied by Dr. Michael Jones– Program Advisor, Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction, US Department of State.

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