#siLab: OASIS Geochemistry Lab

Scientia visits the environmental scientists at the Marine Science Institute

Blog | C.J. Palpal-latoc

Editor’s note: This article also appeared in Scientia’s Facebook page.

William Dimalanta, a graduate student from the OASIS Geochem laboratory, is measuring the temperature of the hydrothermal vent during a fieldwork. Photo courtesy of OASIS Geochem Lab

As global temperatures rise and environmental degradation worsens due to pollution and habitat destruction, our understanding of nature only grows more urgent and important.

Read on and meet the scientists who study our environment. Our third #siLab is the Organic and Stable Isotope (OASIS) Geochemistry Laboratory from the Marine Science Institute (MSI).

Shyrill Mae Mariano and Joanne Constantino of the OASIS Geochem lab are deploying a Niskin bottle to collect water samples in Bankerohan River, Davao City. Photo courtesy of OASIS Geochem Lab

Our environment is a bustling landscape of creatures and natural resources. It is also our home. But what was our environment like in the past? How did pollutants affect it and subsequently us? What’s the quality of our waters?

These are just some of the questions that drive our scientists’ curiosities at the Organic and Stable Isotope (OASIS) Geochemistry Laboratory headed by Dr. Caroline Jaraula.

OASIS invests a lot of effort into gathering and characterizing data in the environment. Their usual targets are organic substances like lipids that form the cell membrane and isotopes, chemical elements that are a little heavier than usual due to addition of neutron particles.

A new acquisition of the OASIS Geochem lab is the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer linked to an Isotope ratio Mass Spectrometer (GCMS-IRMS). The GCMS -IRMS is used for compound-specific isotope ratio analysis for provenance in a number of applications including environmental forensics, and biomarker identification. It is the first GCMS-IRMS to be installed in Southeast Asia for research. Photo by Reign Bañares

One of their major projects is studying persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which are organic substances that are resistant to degradation. Examples are parts of antibiotics that survive the wastewater treatment system and are carried out into the seas.

These antibiotic wastes are inadvertently consumed by aquatic organisms like fish that we then eat, demonstrating the potential impact of POPs to humans. The lab is studying these antimicrobial compounds in the wastewater treatment sites of Cagayan de Oro and Davao.

Shyrill Mae Mariano, a university research assistant (URA), of the laboratory is collecting water samples for analyses in Mabini, Batangas. Photo courtesy of OASIS Geochem Lab

Another of their major projects is the use of autonomous surface vessel (ASV), also called a wave glider, which OASIS controls remotely together with other MSI labs. ASV collects a variety of water quality data such as current, wave, and weather parameters in the coastal waters of Boracay and Bolinao and the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. Through this, environmental health in the Philippines can be monitored efficiently through the water quality and proxy data captured in this platform.

Mariano is filtering water samples in preparation for a solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure. Photo courtesy of OASIS Geochem Lab

OASIS was founded by Dr. Jaraula three years ago when she returned to the Philippines after completing her Ph.D. in the US and a postdoctoral fellowship in Australia. As it grows, the lab aims to be at the forefront of environmental forensics, recognized not only here but also by the scientific community across the globe.

Today, OASIS is very keen on science communication and attempting to bridge the value of their research to society. “[We want to show the public] na hindi lang kami ‘baliw na baliw’ sa research,” one of their graduate students Keith Bejasa said. “We’re actually doing something that would help the Philippine society in the future,” he added.

Dr. Jaraula (rightmost, standing) pose for a photo together with the members of the laboratory after the thesis defense of Keith Limuel Bejasa (second to the right, sitting), a Masters student in MSI. Photo courtesy of OASIS Geochem Lab

Visit the OASIS website for more information or follow them on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).