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| Dr. Arvin C. Diesmos |
by: ALAINE ALLANIGUE
QUEZON CITY, (PIA) -- The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) named Dr. Arvin C. Diesmos, a multi-awarded Filipino scientist, as the new director of its Biodiversity Information Management (BIM) unit.
On 1 September 2021, Dr. Diesmos assumed his new role at the ACB, replacing Dr. Sheila G. Vergara, who started her retirement this month after serving the ACB for 11 years.
Dr. Diesmos has been recently elected as a member of the Philippines’ National Academy of Science and Technology, the highest recognition and scientific advisory body under the Department of Science and Technology.
He was a recipient of the 2008 NAST Philippines Outstanding Young Scientist Award and the 2015 Achievement Award from the National Research Council of the Philippines. He serves as the Philippines’ representative in the Amphibian Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a member of the Animals Committee for Asia of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) of the United Nations.
A career scientist of the Philippines, Dr. Diesmos previously worked as a researcher at the Zoology Division of the National Museum of the Philippines. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology and Master of Science in Wildlife Studies degrees from the University of the Philippines and completed his Ph.D. in Biology at the National University of Singapore.
He has co-authored over 170 scientific papers and has co-discovered over 80 species of frogs, lizards, snakes, insect arthropods, and bird species. In his honor, a new species of frog discovered in 2007 at Malinao Volcano in the Bicol region, has been named after him, Platymantis diesmosi or the Mt. Malinao Cliff Frog, including a lizard Parvoscincus arvindiesmosi and also an earthworm, Pheretima diesmosi.
On 1 September 2021, Dr. Diesmos assumed his new role at the ACB, replacing Dr. Sheila G. Vergara, who started her retirement this month after serving the ACB for 11 years.
Dr. Diesmos has been recently elected as a member of the Philippines’ National Academy of Science and Technology, the highest recognition and scientific advisory body under the Department of Science and Technology.
He was a recipient of the 2008 NAST Philippines Outstanding Young Scientist Award and the 2015 Achievement Award from the National Research Council of the Philippines. He serves as the Philippines’ representative in the Amphibian Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a member of the Animals Committee for Asia of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) of the United Nations.
A career scientist of the Philippines, Dr. Diesmos previously worked as a researcher at the Zoology Division of the National Museum of the Philippines. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology and Master of Science in Wildlife Studies degrees from the University of the Philippines and completed his Ph.D. in Biology at the National University of Singapore.
He has co-authored over 170 scientific papers and has co-discovered over 80 species of frogs, lizards, snakes, insect arthropods, and bird species. In his honor, a new species of frog discovered in 2007 at Malinao Volcano in the Bicol region, has been named after him, Platymantis diesmosi or the Mt. Malinao Cliff Frog, including a lizard Parvoscincus arvindiesmosi and also an earthworm, Pheretima diesmosi.
“I am pleased to be given this opportunity to work with the dedicated team of the ACB, alongside our partners from the ASEAN Member States. I hope to continue enhancing the capability of the Centre’s BIM unit in providing timely and crucial information, particularly in matters relevant to the protection and conservation of the region’s rich and unique biodiversity, climate change resilience, and human health and welfare,” Dr. Diesmos said.
The BIM unit of ACB spearheads the development and implementation of a framework mechanism for sharing information, experiences, best practices, and lessons learned on key biodiversity concerns in the region. The unit supports knowledge and science-based decision-making of ASEAN governments and policy-makers through biodiversity information. (ACB/PIA-NCR)
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