SCS confers first-ever Career Scientist 5 rank
THE Scientific Career System (SCS) conferred to Mudjekeewis Dalisay Santos of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) the rank of Career Scientist 5, the first in the Philippines.
According to SCS, Santos, or “Doc Mudjie” as he is fondly called, is a fishery scientist and marine biologist widely recognized for his work on utilizing genetics, resource assessment, and policy studies to support fisheries management and aquaculture for food security, biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation in the country.
Mudjekeewis Dalisay Santos, fondly known as ‘Doc Mudjie,’ of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute. PHOTO FROM DOC MUDJIE FACEBOOK PAGE
SCS said his works on fisheries management and aquaculture promote objectives crucial for food security, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation.
A conferred career scientist at the NFRDI, Santos is an academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Philippines, a faculty at the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas, and an affiliate professor at the Central Luzon State University.
He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of the Philippines Baguio, and Master of Science in Aquatic Biosciences and Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Marine Biosciences from the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.
He authored and co-authored over 100 scientific articles, book chapters and books. Santos is currently the editor-in-chief of The Philippine Journal of Fisheries, Section Editor of the Philippine Agricultural Scientist, and an editor of Fisheries Science, the official journal of the Japan Society for Fisheries Science.
A recipient of numerous awards, Santos received from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Office of the President of the Philippines the prestigious Presidential Lingkod Bayan award.
With his official Facebook page, “Doc Mudjie,” with over 10,000 followers, he is into science communication via social media to promote his advocacy on fisheries sustainability and marine biodiversity conservation.
The SCS also noted that in recognition of his significant contribution to the advancement of fisheries science and management in the country, two of the world’s leading fish taxonomists in the world, Jeffrey Williams and Kent Carpenter, who are both doctorate holders, named a fish after Santos in 2015, the “Chelidoperca santosi.”
An Islet in Zamboanga City was named in his honor, “Mudjie Wise Key Islet,” by the people of Barangay Dita, Zamboanga City, also in 2015.
Santos is sometimes called “Mr. Fisheries Research” or the “Fisherfolk’s Scientist” since the Zamboanga City and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources officially recognized him “as one of the prime movers of the sardine fishing closure in the Peninsula that not only benefitted the City but the entire country as well,” the SCS said.
Administered by NAST Philippines, the SCS applies to scientific personnel in government service holding at least a master’s or doctorate and extends to non-faculty full-time researchers from state universities and colleges. Since its establishment, the CSC has conferred 198 Filipino researchers to scientist ranks, 63 of whom are active career scientists.