Gavino Trono Jr., Ph.D. (born 1931) is a Filipino marine biologist dubbed as the "Father of

Kappaphycus ''Kappaphycus'' is a genus of red algae. Species are distributed in the waters of East Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hainan Island, the Philippines, and Micronesia.Guiry, M. D. In: Guiry, M. D. & G. M. Guiry. 2013''Kappaphycus''.AlgaeBase. Natio ...

farming". He was conferred the rank of

National Scientist of the Philippines The Order of National Scientists of the Philippines, abbreviated as ONS, is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government. Members of the order are known as National Scientists ( Filipino: ''Pambansang Alagad ng Ag ...

for contributions to the study of tropical marine

phycology Phycology () is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science. Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms that live in a ...

, focusing on seaweed biodiversity. He is currently a professor emeritus of the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

Marine Science Institute The Marine Science Institute (MSI) is one of seven academic institutes of the University of the Philippines' College of Science. It is housed in its own building complex within the UP Diliman Campus in Quezon City. The Marine Science Institute of ...

Education and career

Trono obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in botany from the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

, his master's degree in agricultural botany from the

Araneta University De La Salle Araneta University, also referred to by its acronym (Araneta U or DLSAU), is a private Catholic Lasallian co-educational basic and higher education institution supervised by the Philippine District of the De La Salle Christian Brother ...

and his doctorate in (marine) botany from the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. Trono’s dissertation is considered as among the most important body of work on the diversity and ecology of algae in Micronesia. In the resulting publications, he described 11 new seaweed taxa from the area, 8 of which (i.e., ''Avrainvillea hollenbergii'' Trono, ''Boodleopsis carolinensis'' Trono, ''Ceramium koronense'' Trono, ''Chlorodesmis dotyi'' Trono, ''Derbesia padinae'' Trono, ''Microdictyon mokilensis'' Trono, ''Spyridia velasquezii'' Trono, ''Sphacelaria carolinensis'' Trono) are currently accepted taxonomically.His research focuses on seaweeds including studies on the culture of '' Eucheuma denticulatum,

Kappaphycus alvarezii Description ''Kappaphycus alvarezii'', the elkhorn sea moss, is a species of red algae. The elkhorn sea moss varies in size, weight, and age. It is a dark greenish-brown hue and can sometimes be deep purple. The moss is cylindrical in shape t ...

Gracilaria ''Gracilaria'' is a genus of red algae (Rhodophyta) notable for its economic importance as an agarophyte, as well as its use as a food for humans and various species of shellfish. Various species within the genus are cultivated among Asia, South ...

spp.,

Caulerpa lentillifera ''Caulerpa lentillifera'' is a species of ulvophyte green algae from coastal regions in the Asia-Pacific. This seaweed is one of the favored species of edible ''Caulerpa'' due to its soft and succulent texture. It is traditionally eaten in th ...

, ''and ''Halymenia durvillei'' for coastal communities. He wrote an academic paper reporting the occurrence of ice-ice disease that had affected seaweed farms. This disease devastated the commercial production of seaweed in the Philippines. The seaweed is farmed for the food additive

carrageenan Carrageenans or carrageenins ( ; ) are a family of natural linear sulfated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. Carrageenans are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties. T ...

.Hurtado, A. J., et al. (2006)
Occurrence of ''Polysiphonia'' epiphytes in ''Kappaphycus'' farms at Calaguas Is., Camarines Norte, Philippines.
''Journal of Applied Phycology'' 18:301-06. Trono led the assessment of several coastal areas in Western Mindanao as potential sites for seaweed farms; and discovered twenty-five (25) new marine benthic algae. He also established the largest phycological herbarium in the country – the G.T. Velasquez Herbarium in the

’s

and authored two-volume books on ''Field Guide and Atlas of the Seaweed Resources of the Philippines'', considered as the most authoritative books in the country on the seaweed flora. Trono was conferred the rank of

in 2014 by

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

, the

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

. This award has been made to just over thirty leading scientists and this gives them a pension of life as well as a seat at important national ceremonies. The award was for his contributions to tropical marine

, focusing on seaweed biodiversity.

Awards and recognition

for Marine Biology in 2014 * Academician by the

National Academy of Science and Technology The National Academy of Science and Technology (''abbreviated as ''NAST) is the highest recognition and scientific advisory body of the Philippines under the Department of Science and Technology. It was created through Presidential Decree 1003- ...

(NAST) in 2008 * Plaque of Recognition from the Asia Pacific Society of Applied Phycology in 2006 *

Alumni Award in 1979 * “Likas Yaman Award” from the Ministry of Natural Resources (now

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman, DENR or KKLY) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, developmen ...

) in 1978 *To honor his contribution to phycology, two seaweed taxa—the red seaweed species ''Chondrophycus tronoi'' (Ganzon-Fortes) K.W.Nam and the brown seaweed genus ''Tronoella'' Santiañez & Kogame—were named after Dr. Trono, immortalizing him in the world of natural history sciences

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trono, Gavino 1931 births Filipino biologists National Scientists of the Philippines Living people University of the Philippines alumni De La Salle University alumni University of Hawaiʻi alumni Phycologists