Dr. Rene A. Abesamis, a researcher at the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research & Environmental Management, will receive the Outstanding Young Scientist Award (Marine Biology) of the National Academy of Science & Technology during its annual scientific meeting on July 10 and 1.
Academician William G. Padolina, NAST president, communicated this good news in his letter dated 31 May.
The Outstanding Young Scientist Awards are given to young scientists (not more than 40 years old) who have accomplished much in research in one of the six areas of knowledge as shown by the high quality and high-impact publications in peer-reviewed journals, especially those listed in ISI & SCOPUS databases.
Five of Dr. Abesamis’ six papers published in journals have been extensively referred to and cited by many authors writing in various areas of coral reef studies. The total number of citations is 156, or an average of 7.09 per year.
One of his highly cited papers (with G.R. Russ) deals with density-dependent spillover of fish from Apo Island Marine Reserve with 85 citations. Another paper was awarded a regional prize by the Commission on Higher Education. At present, he is writing a paper on the larval connectivity project of SUAKCREM and James Cook University (Australia), employing larval dispersal models and cutting edge techniques. This will likely contribute to networking of marine reserves first in the Bohol Sea, and later, in other areas of the Philippines.
As an Outstanding Young Scientist awardee, Dr. Abesamis will receive P25,000 cash prize, and a P500,000 research grant. He also becomes automatically a member of the OYS Inc. organization.
Dr. Abesamis teaches courses on coral reef fish and on coral reefs, and will most likely influence graduate students who are interested in coral reef studies at Silliman University.
