A partnership between the Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering (SOSE-ARISE) and Coastal Cities at Risk Philippines (CCARPH) Program with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada
The School of Science and Engineering, through its Ateneo Research Institute of Science and Engineering (ARISE), has identified several priority areas – environment, climate and disaster risk management, health, STEM education, and emerging technologies – that are aligned with the principles, practice and applications of Disaster Risk Management (DRM), and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). To fulfill its mission and vision of “being a center for world-class, innovative and socially relevant research initiatives of SOSE, that will enhance the school’s research capacity and networking capability to transform Philippine society through the generation of knowledge and innovative technologies for national development”, ARISE aims to expand its operations by creating dedicated “Laboratories” that will serve as hubs for inter- and multi-disciplinary programs for each of its specified research agenda. One of these is the Climate and Disaster Resilience Laboratory (or CDR Lab) which was established in ARISE with generous support from the Coastal Cities at Risk Philippines (CCARPH) program. The CDR Lab aims to provide excellent opportunities for experts coming from various disciplines to work together, to solve complex issues (technical, economic, social, etc.) afflicting the country, while contributing to the global effort to address the challenges brought about by climate change and disasters (both man-made and natural).
Currently, ARISE is supporting researches in its CDR lab, such as those by Queaño and De Lara Tuprio (2021),1,2 which are focused on the interplay between geohazards (e.g. flooding) and the risks posed to health by COVID-19, both of which affect the susceptibility of the exposed communities. These studies can help convey what the potential effects of the changes in forecasting the spread of COVID-19 are, as these effects can also be compounded by the consequences of rapid urbanization and various human interventions in the Marikina Valley Basin. A wide range of data was utilized for tracking the temporal changes in the river channel morphology including aerial photographs, topographic maps, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR) and Google Earth images. The results of the study can serve as valuable information for the city’s flood disaster management strategies, making them more science-based and more resilient. This helps address what can be considered as a “double jeopardy” crisis situation.

The ARISE-CDR Laboratory will serve as a hub for all CDR-related research collaborations among SOSE departments (e.g. Environmental Science, Physics, Mathematics, Electronics Computer and Communications Engineering), the Ateneo Innovation Center, and various stakeholders outside of the university in the area of policy formulation, delivery of training programs, providing technical assistance to adopted communities through technology transfer, and information-education programs through lectures and/or seminar series on climate and disaster resilience.

Director, Ateneo Research Institute for Science and Engineering
Citations:
1. Channel morphological changes and responses to geologic controls and human interventions: The Marikina River Basin in Metropolitan Manila, Luzon, Philippines for the past 70 years. Karlo L. Queaño1, ,Elvira de Lara-Tuprio1, Carleen Joy T. Gatdula2, Elijah Tuprio1, Annie Bandong2 and Renz Alvarado1
1School of Science and Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines
2Mines and Geosciences Bureau (Central Office) – Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, North Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines
2. A Case of Double Jeopardy: Urban Flooding and Covid 19 spread in the Marikina Valley Basin, Metro Manila, Philippines. Elvira de Lara-Tuprio1*, Karlo L. Queaño1, Elijah Tuprio1, Carleen Joy T. Gatdula2, Annie Bandong2 and Renz Alvarado1
1School of Science and Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines
2Mines and Geosciences Bureau (Central Office) – Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, North Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines