For the 84th installment of the NIGS Lecture Series, the Nannoworks Laboratory invited its alumnus Mr. Meyrick U. Tablizo last August 5, 2026 to deliver a talk on his research "From Island-Hopping to Insular Dwarfing: Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of Philippine Stegodon." This event was organized in partnership with the National Institute of Geological Sciences, the NIGS GABAY Program, the Nannoworks Laboratory, the Paleontological Society of the Philippines, and the Iuvenis Orbis Geological Fraternity.
Mr. Tablizo delivering his talk on his research on the extinct proboscidean Stegodon.
Mr. Tablizo highlighted how Philippine Stegodon may have been more diverse than previously recognized and emphasized the significance of the Philippines as a “natural laboratory” that played a significant role in shaping their evolution and migration across Southeast Asia. The talk was held as a hybrid session and was attended by members of the laboratory, the Paleontological Society of the Philippines, the NIGS community, and colleagues from the UP School of Archaeology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology (Ateneo de Manila University), Geology Department-Universiti Malaya, and the National Museum of the Philippines.
Awarding of the Certificate of Appreciation to Mr. Tablizo from the Iuvenis Orbis Geological Fraternity and the Paleontological Society of the Philippines.
From left to right: Timothy Capulong, Meyrick Tablizo, Dr. Alyssa M. Peleo-Alampay, Dr. Allan Gil S. Fernando, and Dr. Leopoldo P. de Silva, Jr.
Mr. Tablizo earned both his BS and MS in Geology degrees from the National Institute of
Geological Sciences, UP Diliman, where he also previously served as an Instructor. He is also
a member of the Paleontological Society of the Philippines. Mr. Tablizo is currently a first-year
PhD student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. His master’s
research examined the morphology and taxonomy of proboscidean craniodental fossils from
Luzon, while his doctoral research focuses on the evolutionary history, taxonomy, and paleoecology of the extinct proboscidean Stegodon in Asia.
Mr. Tablizo with the on-site attendees of the 84th NIGS Lecture Series.