Five years have passed in the blink of an eye, yet in that span, many wonderful collaborations and partnerships have been built across the world’s oceans.
Dr. David Lagomasino has collaborated with the Fish Right Program since 2019, and this Fall he made his fourth trip to the Philippines for the project. Fish Right is a partnership between the Government of the Philippines and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is implemented by the Coastal Resources Center (CRC) at the University of Rhode Island (URI). The Fish Right Program was established to improve marine biodiversity and help better manage fisheries in the Philippines. During his years of participation in the program, Lagomasino has helped map coastal habitats and their changes over time and has led workshops for various stakeholders, ranging from community members and local fishers to government agencies and natural resource managers.
The Fish Right Program aims to establish sustainable fisheries for generations to come through avenues such as establishing Marine Protected Areas and mitigating negative environmental and industry impacts. While the project involves a whole host of players, decision makers, and environmental topics, Dr. Lagomasino’s role has focused on ecosystem services and the tools and techniques to map and monitor coastal systems. He collected on-the-ground data to complement satellite imagery for new and future ecological models during his first two trips to the island nation; his third and most recent trips were more about knowledge exchange and local capacity building. In Fall 2024, Integrated Coastal Sciences Ph.D. student Shalimar Moreno joined Lagomasino on the trip to the Philippines.
Together, they, along with URI colleague and CRC Director Dr. JP Walsh, led a 6-day workshop and training for Filipino agencies that focused on remote sensing techniques and data collection and processing. The first two days took place in Manila and provided an overview of remote sensing and Google Earth Engine- a useful, online mapping platform that houses a vast catalog of satellite imagery and geospatial datasets. On days three and four, workshop participants visited the coast to tour the De La Salle University – Br. Alfred Shields FSC Marine Station and collect field data. The group practiced using single-beam sonar, underwater cameras, and drones outfitted with sensors to collect bathymetry data, or information about the profile and habitats of the seafloor.
Upon return from the field each day, workshop participants considered the information they gathered and how it might be useful for generating computer models to help them monitor the ecosystem. This prepared them for the fifth day, which included an overview of the satellite known as ICESat-2, a satellite that uses green lasers to collect information about elevation and water depth. While she served mostly as a research technician and teaching assistant during the first four days of the trip, Moreno took the lead on Day 5. She taught the workshop participants how to access, download, and prepare the crucial ICESat-2 data that held insights for tree cover, canopy height, bathymetry, and more.
On Day 6, the workshop leaders served as moderators, bridging conversations between the different participating Filipino government entities and academic partners, including the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippine Space Agency, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, De La Salle University, and the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute. The time proved productive and highlighted the ways in which the different organizations and agencies could work together to improve overall efficiency. Some had overlapping goals and others had similar data needs.
“It was truly a unique experience to have so many organizations and federal agencies represented during the workshop all in one room. We were learning from them as much as they were learning from us and each other about ecosystem management,” Moreno observed.
In addition to leading activities on the fifth day, Moreno made a set of pre- and post-workshop surveys to better understand what participants gained from the 6-day experience. The information garnered from these surveys will be shared with Fish Right to inform future community collaborations. Additionally, Lagomasino and other Fish Right leaders will attend virtual meetings regularly at least through the spring to keep the momentum built during the workshop going. They hope to offer support and consultation as the group activities grow and evolve, especially as it pertains to ground vs. satellite data.
“The usefulness of satellite remote sensing can easily be seen by the wide variety of applications our team has assisted with. From the rapid assessment of the impacts of Typhoon Yolanda on mangroves forests across country, to mapping land reclamation on the atolls of the contested waters of the West Philippines Sea,” said Lagomasino as he reflected on his collaboration with Fish Right partners
Through the training and subsequent calls, key officials will be able to more efficiently design management areas, regulate human activities, and monitor changes in critical Filipino coastal areas both near and far. Lagomasino and Moreno believe their time in the Philippines was incredibly worthwhile as they continued to build valuable collaborations, and they look forward to future opportunities to share their knowledge and expertise for such a beneficial project.
The preceding story first appeared in the Spring 2025 edition of CoastLines published in May.
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