Two NICER centers to address environmental concerns are set to rise in northern Luzon
Things are bound to get nicer in northern Luzon as two projects under the NICER (Niche Centers in the Regions for Research and Development) program had been green-lit in May 2021.
In Region 1, the Coastal Engineering Research (CoastER) Center will be established through a PhP 79.93 million project funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through the Office of the Undersecretary for Research and Development (OUSECRD).
Mariano Marcos State University, along with Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University and the University of the Philippines Diliman, will co-implement the project in partnership with Urdaneta City University and the University of Northern Philippines.
Through its aim of mitigating disasters grounded on strategies addressing coastal erosion and climate change, the CoastER Center would aid in building a resilient seaside community and reducing agricultural and fishery losses by 20% or equivalent to PhP 1 billion in savings.
On the other hand, in Region 2, a PhP 77.27 million project for the Smart Water Infrastructure Management (SWIM) Research and Development Center will be co-implemented by Isabela State University (ISU), Cagayan State University, and Quirino State University.
Partners will include the Office of Civil Defense, the National Water Resources Board, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Agriculture, the National Irrigation Administration, and various local government units.
The SWIM Center aims to develop technologies in water management and promote disaster-resilient infrastructures. Its innovations are expected to improve safe water supply, quality, access, utilization, and reuse—as well as reduce agricultural and infrastructural damages through better forecasting of droughts and extreme rainfall.
Interested parties may contact Dr. Nathaniel R. Alibuyog through email at natzalibuyog@gmail.com for more on the CoastER Center and Dr. Orlando F. Balderama at orly_isu@yahoo.com for the SWIM Center.
The CoastER Center and SWIM Center are two of the projects under NICER that will be presented in the Big 21 in 2021 launch on 7 September 2021, 10:00AM, to be broadcast live at the DOST-Philippines Facebook page. (By Allyster A. Endozo, DOST-STII and photos from DOST-OUSECRD
The bathymetric drone with echo sounder to be housed in the CoastER Center will be used to quickly and efficiently acquire data for the coastal modeling of storm surge and tsunami events (Image from aerospectrum.com).
The wave flume channel to be housed in the CoastER Center will be used for two-dimensional investigations of coastal processes, as well as marine and coastal structures (Image from stonybrook.edu).
Measuring sediments in Addalam River, an upstream tributary of Cagayan River by the ISU research team. The SWIM project aims to address the wide-ranging environmental, social, and economic impacts of erosion, sediment transport, and sedimentation processes. Measurement and monitoring of sediment transport are of critical importance for managing and mitigating these impacts.
Development of high-resolution geospatial flood maps of communities by the LIDAR (light detection and ranging) research team of ISU. One important deliverable of the SWIM project is to prepare water resources management maps of provinces and municipalities in Region 2.
