BURKE & BRETT: EDUCATION LOG 
547 
the municipalities bordering the lake. Taal Lake is the third largest freshwater lake in the Philip¬ 
pines and has two unique aspects: it used to be connected directly to the ocean as an ann of Bal¬ 
ayan Bay, and it has an island in the middle of it (Volcano Island) that has its own large crater lake. 
Emptions in the 18^*’ century closed off direct access to the ocean and over time the lake became 
fresh water. This has resulted in biologically unique, endemic species such as the freshwater sea 
snake {Hydrophis semperi) and sardine (Sardinella tawilis). Expedition biologists David Catania, 
Chrissy Piotrowski, Van Syoc, Vanessa Knutson and Don Dumale were particularly interested in 
collecting Taal specimens, but the imusual electrolytes in the Taal waters interfered with attempts 
to use the electro-shocker to collect fish, and a heightened alert status for possible eruptions limit¬ 
ed access on Volcano Island. Some specimens were successfrilly collected, however, with nets. The 
botany team’s plan to conduct a survey of plants on Volcano Island, especially along the route of a 
proposed hiking path for tourists, had to be canceled due to the emption alert. The Taal watershed 
is a protected area, but Taal is the center of controversy and conservation concerns due to the pres¬ 
ence of tilapia fish pens (see Fig. 5), the introduction of an invasive species of piscivore fish, jaguar 
guapote {Parachromis managuensis), and the occurrence of significant kills of both native and 
aquaculture fish, the causes of which are attributed to both overstocking of fish pens, oxygen deple¬ 
tion in the water, and over-abundance of sulfrir in the water due to volcanic activity. The education¬ 
al outreach, in addition to the usual focus on the expedition, included discussions about the conser¬ 
vation challenges facing the lake and the communities sumounding it. 
May 12, 2011: Mt. Makiling, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Batangas Province 
This university campus is situated in a lush, tropical forest and offered the ideal backdrop for 
the outreach, which focused primarily on the expedition fieldwork being conducted by botanists 
and entomologists on the slopes of Mount Makiling, an inactive volcano located 65 km southeast 
of Manila. The outreach was attended by 69 park officials, university faculty, students, and other 
educators. Participants learned about discoveries made at elevations not previously surveyed, espe¬ 
cially for bryophytes, a group that had not been a focus of much previous fieldwork. Expedition 
physician Matt Lewin also provided field first aid tips (never leave home without a safety pin or 
two!) and described a mobile snakebite kit that he was developing and its potential value during 
fieldwork in remote terrestrial locations such as those being visited in the Philippines. Salcedo and 
Pusod Executive Director Ann Hazel Javier assisted Burke and Brett with the outreach. 
May 13, 2011: University of Batangas, Batangas City, Batangas Province 
Hosted by Dr. Percy Showers, a faculty member at the Univei*sity of Batangas (UB), this pro¬ 
gram reached 62 students and faculty. Burke and Brett were joined by Javier and Castillo from 
Pusod, and by CAS marine biologist Piofrowski, who deserved a Purple Heart for participating in 
the outreach while waiting for medical results from the Batangas Hospital for a recuiTing intection 
she was battling. Before the outreach session began, Burke and Brett had a courtesy call with Jesus 
Mayo, Vice President for Students and External Affairs, Florencio V. Reyes, Vice President of Pub¬ 
lications, Research, Linkages and Liaison (PReLL) and Julio Romeo T. Chavez, Faculty- 
Reseai'cher, PReLL. It was at this meeting that CAS was invited to attend and present at the sus¬ 
tainability conference at Centro Escolar University later in the month. 
May 17, 2011: Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon Province 
As the expedition progressed and more fieldwork was done and specimens collected, outreach 
events offered even greater opportunities to share information about the joint discoveries being 
