Research Staff (Verde Island Passage Center for Oceanographic Research and Aquatic Life Sciences)
Instructor I (College of Arts and Sciences)
e-mail: jovyann.valera@g.batstate-u.edu.ph
Ms. Valera specializes in molecular biology with implications on conservation and management of marine resources. From rice science, she redirected her focus on highly valuable sea cucumbers for 3 years in developing its genomic resources. Her interest of study now includes gene marker development for valuable traits, marine molecular ecology, and biology and culture of sea cucumbers particularly Holothuria scabra. Now being a researcher in the VIP CORALS, she conducts basic research with the team and establishes partnerships with key stakeholders in the VIP for the conservation of its marine environment and sustainable utilization of its resources.
Her research involvements are the following:
- Survey of vulnerable, threatened, endangered and economically important marine organisms in Verde Island, Batangas City (Internal Funding from BatStateU, Aug 2018-Jul 2019)
- Marine Repository Hub (Internal funding from BatStateU, Aug 2018-Jul 2019)
- Developing genomic resources for Holothuria scabra in support of broodstock enhancement and stock delineation (DOST-PCAARRD, Sep-Jan 2019)
- Application of molecular markers in the conservation and management of marine genetic resources in Asia (e.g. Abalone or Haliotis spp.) (SEAFDEC/AQD, Oct-Dec 2011)
- Genetic improvement in the giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) – (SEAFDEC/AQD, May-Jun 2013)
- Selective breeding for enhanced traits in saline-tolerant Tilapias (Oreochromis spp.) – (SEAFDEC/AQD, May-Jun 2013)
She completed her Master of Science in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology with Cognates in Genetics from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She was granted the Affiliate MSc Thesis Research Scholarship from IRRI (irri.org) where she explored additional potential SNP haplotypes of Pi35 resistant gene for 3 years to help address decreasing rice yield due to rice blast disease. She continued her molecular work at the UP MSI by helping develop genomic resources for H. scabra such as 1) linkage map which is a baseline information for quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping of economic traits such as rapid growth towards marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs, 2) genome-wide SNP markers for delineating populations of the said species which are necessary information for identifying management units and guiding conservation efforts and, 3) candidate SNP markers associated with traits of desired economic value. With her background on aquaculture at SEAFDEC/AQD, she was tasked to conduct artificial spawning and culture of the species specifically for the establishment of its linkage mapping family as part of the project. With her interest in molecular biology and genetics applied to the conservation and management of marine resources, she joined VIP CORALS as a researcher.