23/10/2025
๐ฅ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ. ๐ฟ๐
From the thriving growth of the students and the program to the diverse nature of Negros Island and the rich biodiversity of trees in the province, USLS Biology students gathered at the Miguel Lobby for the culmination of the University of St. La Salle Biological Societyโs Second General Assembly and BioSpeaks 2025 on October 23. Centered on the theme โ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐.๐: ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง,โ the event highlighted the continuous development of students, the program, and researchโreflecting how growth extends beyond the laboratory and into the living world around them.
Edrian Kyle Versoza, UBS President, shared the BS Biology programโs first semester projects, achievements, and plans, as well as important dates to remember. He gave a recap of the semesterโs activities, including the First General Assembly, PasiCluban, Club Icon, Club Fair, TAMBAL Day, and the LaSallian Week booth. Major projects were also launched, such as the UBS Arbor Day tree-planting activity and this academic yearโs BioMerch. He highlighted the achievements of fourth-year thesis groups and TAMBAL participants who received grants and awards. Moreover, Versoza announced upcoming projects and events for October and November, including the Luntian Project, the Acquaintance Party, the release of the second BioComics, BioArchives, the Beyond the Lab Coat awards, and BIO for the Barangayโa continuation of Project TATAP.
The program continued with BioSpeaks 2025, featuring this yearโs speaker, biologist-historian โManongโ Raniel Carmona Ponteras, PhD, who presented his talk "Our History as Told by Forests" and presentation titled โOur Plural Pasts in Phytotoponyms Against Monocultured Memory.โ Dr. Ponteras shared fun facts about tree species in the Negros Island Region, their scientific names, and how their local names came to be, emphasizing their ecological relationships. He discussed the issue of monoculture cropping in Negros Occidental and called for diversifying the provinceโs agricultural fields. He also addressed the harmful effects of chemical runoffs from pesticides, linking them to the endangerment of species and the pollution of natural habitats such as the rivers in Bago, which threaten the Irrawaddy dolphins (๐๐ณ๐ค๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ด).
As the event concluded, the gathering reflected the unity, growth, and environmental advocacy of the LaSallian Biology community. ๐ฑโจ
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๐ธ: Courtney Soliguen
