BILLY JOEL M. ALMARINEZ, PhD, LPT
Billy is an entomologist of the Biological Control Research Unit (BCRU), and Associate Professor at the Department of Biology of De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila, Philippines. Currently, he also serves as the current Laboratory Manager of the Imaging and Cell Culture Laboratory (iCELL) of the Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) in the DLSU Laguna Campus. Billy obtained his Master of Science in Biology and Doctor of Philosophy in Biology degrees from DLSU in 2009 and 2016, respectively. Previous and current research projects of the BCRU which he has been working on focus on integrated pest management (IPM) with emphasis on biologically-based pest management strategies, particularly biological control using parasitoids and predators against agricultural and urban insect pests. He was among the DLSU entomologists who discovered, reported the first record of, and taxonomically described a native species of parasitic wasp, Comperiella calauanica Barrion, Almarinez & Amalin, that is now recognized and accepted as the biological control agent against the “cocolisap”, Aspidiotus rigidus Reyne, a major pest of coconut in the Philippines.Billy is also a licensed professional teacher, having obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biology for Teachers degree from the Philippine Normal University (PNU) and his professional teaching license in 2006. In addition to his experience in teaching tertiary- and graduate-level Biology courses in DLSU, he has also taught at PNU, and at the Technological University of the Philippines in Manila. He is a member of the Philippine Association of Entomologists (PAE) and the Biology Teachers Association of the Philippines (BIOTA). He is also a member of the Philippine Association of Physics and Science Instructors (PAPSI), serving multiple times since 2017 as resource speaker for Biology in trainings and seminars for K to 12 STEM teachers.
Associate Professor
PhD in Biology, De La Salle University, Philippines
Entomology, Biology and ecology of insects and spiders, Taxonomy and systematics of insects and spiders, Biological control using parasitoids and predators for integrated pest management, Development and validation of species distribution models to predict pest species distribution and/or invasion risk
