IMBiBE PhD Candidate "Tin" Baran Clinches Best Oral Presentation at 14th ASTHRDP Conference

ILOILO CITY, Philippines - Christine "Tin" Baran, a PhD Candidate from the Interactions of Marine Bionts and Benthic Ecosystems Laboratory (IMBiBE Lab), has won the Best Oral Presentation award for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (Category 1) at the 14th ASTHRDP Graduate Scholars' Conference.

The annual scientific symposium gathered graduate scholars nationwide from September 17–18, 2026, to showcase their research projects. Baran earned the recognition for her presentation of a key portion of her doctoral dissertation titled, "Sublethal and demographic impacts of the 2024 Global Coral Bleaching Event on Soft Corals" Her research directly contributes to the scientific community's understanding of how extreme thermal anomalies affect marine organisms beyond immediate mortality, offering a clearer picture of how soft coral populations handle chronic stress and demographic shifts following widespread bleaching events.

The findings provide localized and broader environmental contributions toward shaping how researchers monitor post-disaster recovery in tropical marine habitats. The entire IMBiBE community expressed pride in Baran's achievement.