GEOMAR  Tualla, Ivan Patrick

Ivan Patrick Baquiano Tualla

Tualla_I

Research Division 3: Marine Ecology
RU Marine Symbioses

Office:
Room: 4.510
Phone: +49 431 600-4488
Email: itualla@geomar.de
Address:
Wischhofstraße 1-3, Building 5
D-24148 Kiel

[Translate to English:] Orcid
[Translate to English:] google scholar
[Translate to English:] Linkedin

Research interests

Fundamental workflow

Advancements in high-throughput sequencing technologies and improved computational methods have enabled the exploration of biochemical profiling of microbiomes thriving in extreme environmental niches. Currently, my research focuses on revealing the ‘biocatalytic black box’ of microbiomes from deep-sea sponges leading to the elucidation of potential extremozymes for marine biotechnological applications. By utilizing artificial intelligence and new machine learning algorithms, this will leverage in silico enzyme mining pipelines for the biodiscovery and bioprospecting of novel extremozymes from extreme aquatic microbiomes. Moreover, I also perform molecular cloning, recombinant protein production, and protein characterization to verify enzymatic activities in vitro. This work is mainly anchored to the EU Horizon-funded XTREAM project. I’m open to scientific collaborations, so please get in touch!

Keywords: Metagenomics, Marine Microbiology, Extremozyme Discovery, Heterologous expression, Blue Bioeconomy

Scientific Career

Since 2025, Doctoral Researcher at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Germany

2022 – 2024 International Master of Science in Marine Biological Resources (Magna cum laude) – Ghent University, Belgium, University of Basque Country, Spain, and University of Bergen, Norway.

2022 – University Research Associate II at the Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman.

Since 2021, Associate Member of the Biological Sciences Division, National Research Council of the Philippines, Department of Science and Technology (NRCP-DOST), Philippines

2019 – 2021 Science Research Specialist I at the Fisheries Biotechnology Center, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Philippines.

2019 – Research Intern at the Philippine Genome Center, University of the Philippines Diliman.

2018 – University Research Associate I at the Central Luzon State University, Philippines.

2015 – 2016 Laboratory Instructor at the Department of Biological Sciences, Visayas State University, Philippines.

2014 – Research Assistant at the Graduate School of Integrated Life Science, Hiroshima University, Japan.

2011 – 2015 Bachelor of Science in Biology major in Marine Biology – Visayas State University.

Awards, Scholarships, and Training Grants

  1. IMBRsea Class of 2024 Best Master Thesis Prize
  2. Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Award 2022 – 2024, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
  3. Best Poster presentation (2nd) – Association of the Systematics Biologists of the Philippines
  4. Best Oral presenter and Best Research paper – Convention of the Federation of Institutions for Marine and Freshwater Sciences
  5. Phi Delta Most Outstanding Bachelor’s Thesis for Physical and Environmental Science – Visayas State University
  6. Leadership Award – Department of Biological Science
  7. Academic Scholarship – Visayas State University
  8. International Summer School on the Mathematics in Chromatin Dynamics Research Center for the Mathematics and Chromatin Dynamics, Hiroshima University, Japan
  9. Young Sustainable Impact 2017 Start-Up Lab, Oslo Science Park, University of Oslo, Norway

Publications

Ivan Patrick B. Tualla and Jayzon G. Bitacura. Effects of Cadmium and Zinc on the Gamete Viability, Fertilization, and Embryonic Development of Tripneustes gratilla (Linnaeus), Scientifica, vol. 2016, Article ID 8175213, 10 pages, 2016. doi.org 10.1155/2016/8175213.

Contributions to scientific conferences and lectures

Poster presentation. Discovery of novel promiscuous enzymes for plastic degradation. 3rd International Poster Competition. Erasmus Mundus Association.

Poster presentation. Plastic-degrading enzymes from extremophilic bacteria at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridges (AMOR) deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Science by the Sea – Science Seminar 2023 hosted by the Centre for Deep Sea Research, University of Bergen, Norway.

Poster presentation. Yessotoxins in an aquaculture area off the Basque coast: their occurrence in mussels and its potential producers. 20th International Conference on Harmful Algae (ICHA) hosted by Hiroshima University, Japan.

Oral presentation. Molecular-assisted taxonomic studies on some Caulerpa (Bryopsidales, Ulvophyceae) species from Aurora province and Benham Bank, Philippine Rise, Philippines. 40th Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines Symposium and Annual Meeting, Philippines.

Poster presentation. Taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of Asparagopsis (Bonnemaisoniales, Rhodophyta) from the Philippines. 39th Symposium and Annual Meeting of the Association of the Systematic Biologists of the Philippines.

Poster presentation. Molecular-assisted Taxonomic Studies on Asparagopsis (Bonnemaisoniales, Rhodophyta) from the West Philippine Sea. 14th Kuroshio Science International Symposium, Japan.

Oral presentation. Lecture on Fundamentals of Polymerase Chain Reaction and Application of Bioinformatics tools on Genetic Sequence Analysis. Biotechnology 101: Theory, practices, and applications in aquaculture and fisheries. Philippines.

Oral presentation. Application of Molecular Diagnostic Tool in the Most Important Pathogens in Organic Farming and Liquid Supplement. 31st CLSU In-House Review of Completed and Ongoing R&D Project. Philippines.

Poster presentation. Molecular Detection of Waterborne Pathogens in Monitoring Water Sources Used in Organic Farming. 31st CLSU In-House Review of Completed and Ongoing R&D Project. Philippines.

Poster presentation. Molecular Screening on the Occurrence of the Most Important Pathogens in Organic Fertilizers and Liquid Supplements for a Safe Organic and Sustainable Agriculture. 41st National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Annual Scientific Meeting.

Oral presentation. Apo Island: A Turtle Hotspot in the Coral Triangle. 38th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.

Oral presentation. Two Frequently Confused Genera of the Marine Red Algal Flora of the Philippines: Claudea lamouroux and Zellera G. Martens (Rhodophyta: Delesseriaceae). Annual Convention of the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines.

Poster presentation. First Records of Marine Macrobenthic Algae from Limasawa Island, Southern Leyte. 24th Philippine Biodiversity Symposium of the Biodiversity Conservation Society of the Philippines.

Oral presentation. Effects of Cadmium and Zinc in the gamete viability, fertilization and embryonic development of Tripneustes gratilla (Linnaeus). 47th Annual National Convention of the Federation of Institutions for Marine and Freshwater Sciences.