Dr. Marcial Suarez Buladaco II or Sir Mars is the new faculty staff in the Division of Soil Science of the Agricultural Systems Institute (ASI). He is Assistant Professor 3 and was hired September 24, 2020. Sir Mars teaches soil science courses like Soil Survey and Classification, and Environment and Land use. He obtained his Bachelor of Science (BS) in Agriculture, major in Soil Science – Soil Fertility in 2013 from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). Dr. Buladaco was Top 1 in the 2014 Agriculture Licensure Examination. In 2015, he had his MS in Soil Science and was accepted to the Straight PhD in Soil Science Program which he completed in 2020. His specialization is in Soil Chemistry, with minor cognates in Agronomy and Agricultural Economics. This shows his dedication to the Soil Science program of the institute. No wonder that he joined ASI as a faculty member, consistent with his personal goal in life which is to learn more and share his knowledge with others.

Sir Mars has international experience as an Industrial Trainee/Research Student of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia from Nov. 1, 2018 to Oct. 14, 2019. This is under the DOST Research Enrichment Program (REP) for PhD Dissertation. He joined the Contaminant Biogeochemistry and Environmental Toxicology Group at Adelaide, South Australia. Here, he conducted soil contaminants and soil ecotoxicology experiments (e.g. characterization tests, adsorption/desorption studies, seed germination studies, seedling emergence and growth tests (OECD 208), N transformation tests (OECD 216), earthworm avoidance test (ISO 17512-1:2008).

He has also been part of the Famer – Scientists Training Program (FSTP) team as University Research Associate I from 2014 to 2015. Through the program, he gained experience in coordinating with the LGUs and other partner agencies in the municipalities of Mindanao and in other regions/provinces for the FSTP Phase I, II, & III implementation.

Dr. Buladaco is from Tagum City, Davao del Norte.  Aside from his keen interest in soil science, he also enjoys singing, drawing, watching series and anime, and reading manga. Sir Mars believes that the point of power is always in the present moment. (ELA Matienzo)