CamNorteño students turn mangrove maths into global science feat in ISEF 2025

From a string of rejections to a world stage in Columbus, Ohio—students from Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte transformed their love for mangroves into a math-powered mission to protect what once protected them.

The team—Edric Magana, Jaycil Robert Sta. Rosa, Mark Niño Asis, Jireh Jhieyryl Dasco, Dominic Lyle Escoto, Frank Luigie Lopez, Jaypee Perez, Raijen Rein Mancera, and Geoff Allen Rodelas—did not simply crunch numbers: they turned to the mangroves that shielded their coastal town for generations, hoping to give back using the language they knew best: mathematics.

Their model, which is the Mangrove Analytics and Prediction System, or MAPS, is a web-based tool that estimates how many mangrove saplings will survive—regardless of environmental shifts.

“It helps answer, ‘Should we plant here or not?’” Magana said.

In an exclusive interview with Magana and his team, they described MAPS to be “[able] to predict how many mangroves will survive based on deviations from optimal conditions.”

Fueled with scientific thirst, Magana and his team were able to qualify for the 2-25 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the international olympiad of youth science fairs across the globe.

Along with 7 other teams from the country, MAPS represented the Philippines in the prestigious competition.

But for Magana, it was never for competition—they simply loved mangroves too much.

“What happens after planting? Usually, it ends with a photo op—[there is no] follow-up,” Magana said.

While environmental activists and government-affiliated parties are hand-over-fist in providing solutions to save communities such as Jose Panganiban, sometimes, the best of solutions are waiting from the observations of the common folk–and in this case, youth like Magana.

“We made eight proposals. Seven were rejected,” he recalled. “That only strengthened our resolve. That’s how we came back to the mangroves.”

Again and again, mangroves have proven to be nature’s natural barriers in seaside communities, and in Jose Panganiban, where the town center faces the sea, mangroves are the friend of fishermen and townsfolk alike.

Apart from Magana’s mission in the conservation of mangroves in a scientific manner, there were already townsfolk who saw the need to take care of mangroves as a community affair.

In a coastal barangay of Jose Panganiban, Barangay Dayhagan, mangroves are not only their source of livelihood–they unanimously refer to it as their “life savers.”

Danilo Rieza, 70, and Dayhagan’s town elder, is a witness to the power of mangroves.

“Ang bakawan po ay napakalaki at tumutulong sa aming barangay,” Rieza said in an interview.

(The mangrove forest is very large and helps our barangay a lot.)

Said Rieza, the mangroves were the only reason why they continue to live–the reason being mangroves protecting them from the wrath of supertyphoon Rosing in 1995.

“Ito pong mangrove na ito, diyan po nabuhay ang anak ko, ang mga magulang ko, mga kaibigan ko,” Rieza said.

(These mangroves saved my child, my parents, and my friends.)

Rieza, who was a husband and a father of two during the onslaught of Rosing, recounts how mayapi, a species of mangrove, saved them and his fellow townsfolk from certain death.

“Ako po ay nagpapasalamat sapagkat ang aking pamilya, ang aking mga kaibigan, lalong lalo na ang aming mga kabarangay, ay kung wala pong mangrove, maaari pong maraming namatay sa amin,” Rieza said.

(I am thankful because my family, my friends, and especially our fellow villagers—if it weren't for the mangroves, many of us could have died)

Now, Rieza tells the tale of how an inconspicuous tree saved their life, calling them their life savers.

Rieza’s son, Dansan, is a living testament to the power of mangroves–and paying it forward, Dansan now serves as a forest protection officer in the province of Camarines Norte.

For the younger Rieza, the mangroves are the real life givers of Dayhagan, saying that it enables the townsfolk to make a living by just using the natural characteristic of mangroves as artificial reefs, which catch both small fish and mud crabs.

“Sa pang araw-araw na hanapbuhay, halos hindi na po kami lumalayo dahil din sa tulong ng bakawan–dahil alam rin po natin na d’yan po tumitira ang mga maliliit na isda, mga mud crabs, [at iba pang] species, na pangangaliangan namin sa araw araw,” Rieza said.

(In our daily livelihood, we hardly have to go far anymore because of the help of the mangroves—since we also know that small fish, mudcrabs, and other species that we need every day live there.)

Rieza, when asked on the use of science in protecting mangroves, said that it helps that the community and youth is involved in how the process should be done.

“Kung may opportunity ang mga kabataan, maganda po para mapaliwanag rin sa kanila at para malaman rin nila kung para saan ang bakawan,” Rieza said.

(If there’s an opportunity for the youth, it would be good so that the mangroves can be explained to them and they can understand what they are for.)

Rieza hopes that through continuous efforts, scientific work like those of Magana can be understood by the townsfolk of Barangay Dayhagan.

But paying forward means not only creating a solution set in science, it also means coming back to communities that really need change through empirical methods.

With science and the support of the community backing them, Magana and his team set for Columbus, Ohio, for the annual Regeneron ISEF.

Magana, with the help of his coaches, Joey and Marichel Arquero, Ronalyn Opeda, and John Edward Atiwag, was able to clinch a spot—their young minds nurtured by similar-minded individuals and supportive teachers in their school.

With over 2,000 participants worldwide, the competition was toe-on-toe for Magana, competing against the top science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students in over 60 countries.

Qualifying for the Regeneron ISEF is no small feat—Magana and his team had to compete from the provincial, regional and national levels before securing their coveted spot in the said competition.

While not being able to secure an award, Magana and his team’s feat continues to be Camarines Norte’s first in the Regeneron ISEF, and Bicol’s second.

With passion in their hearts and progress in their minds, Magana, Sta. Rosa, and Asis–all freshly minted products of their Jose Panganiban National High School, commit to pursue STEM fields in the future.

In the end, what Magana and his team brought to the global stage was not just an algorithm or a predictive model—it was a testament to how science rooted in love for one’s hometown can ripple outward.

In turn, MAPS proved that science by the youth is more than just a science investigatory project for compliance—it is evidence that even from the coastal corners of Jose Panganiban, students can spark conversations, inspire solutions, and most of all, protect the ecosystems that have long protected them.

And as the tides continue to rise, so too will the next generation of scientists, nurtured by both community and conviction.