Meet Mark Arcebal Naive, botanist1) What do you do?I am a proud botanist, currently working on

Meet Mark Arcebal Naive, botanist1) What do you do?I am a proud botanist, currently working on flowering plants, specifically on the families Zingiberaceae and Orchidaceae. I love exploring the forests and mountains, most especially discovering or finding species new to science. As a matter of fact, I have already discovered 23 new species of orchids (Orchidaceae), 3 new species of gingers (Zingiberaceae) and 1 new species of Aroids (Araceae). I am also about to finish my study on the Taxonomy and Molecular Phylogeny of Etlingera (Zingiberaceae) in Mindanao, Philippines.Currently, I am in China participating in the Advanced Fieldcourse in Ecology and Conservation held in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), Chinese Academy of Sciences.2) Where do you work?I am a MS Biology student at Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, Philippines. I am on my last semester so will hopefully be graduating soon.3) Tell us about the photos![Left:] This is a photo taken during our fieldwork in one of the mountains of Bukidnon province. It shows typical me during fieldwork doing my floral dissections for better illustration of each species, resting from a hot and exhausting trekking, and always taking a selfie whenever beautiful flowers are spotted.[Right:] I chose this photo because this is very memorable for me, as I was awarded as the 2nd best placer for poster presentation (for the Biology/Microbiology/Health Science category) during the DOST-ASTHRDP Graduate Research Conference year 8 last May 2-3, 2019. It was proof of hard work paying off!4) Tell us about your academic career path so far.Elementary: Dologon Central Elementary School, Bukidnon, Philippines (2007)High School: Dologon National High School, Bukidnon, Philippines (2011)BS in Biology: Central Mindanao University, Bukidnon, Philippines (2016)MS in Biology (on-going): Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, PhilippinesMy research interests includes Botany, Plant Systematics, Plant Taxonomy, Molecular Phylogeny, Ecology and Conservation.5) Anything else you’d like to share?Every time we make our discoveries known to the general public and not only to the scientific community, it is for the intention of informing a bigger audience. It is to inform everybody and INVITE everyone to take part in conserving our very own species and their habitats. The current degradation of our forests is very alarming. Although the issue is actually complex, I believe it still boils down to people’s awareness, love for the environment, and our desire to protect our one and only home. Recently, we got all these comments from people when our new species got published in local media. Some comments are funny but most are sad and pitiful. It is easy to ignore them but their comments reflect a greater need to EDUCATE more and more people and reach out to the grass roots and to educate the children and create awareness on the importance of our flora and fauna in the ecosystem. Plants aren’t just plants and animals aren’t just animals. They have a life. They play important roles in the ecosystem. And just like a domino effect, the loss of one group of organism can trigger the extinction of other organisms including humans. -- source link

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